Barbadians have had to wait on the Governor to answer questions about the performance of the economy. Many regard the discontinuation of press conferences by the Governor as a blatant attempt to suppress information about an economy in a comatose state for eight years. Barbadians will be expectant the David Ellis hosted forum will be informative for a fatigue public.
Updated
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Stop the money laundering and hiding of funds for crooks, ALSO need to turn over all the money that their are holding . All of the 100 Million that First Caribbean Handed over to them a few years ago, UNCLAIMED FUNDS BY POSTING THE NAMES IN THE NEWS PAPERS,
@ David
Steupsss
What answers what??!!
That man is incoherent….
Lotta shiite about 3% growth and 100% alternative energy…
The only thing clear so far is that the groundwork is being paved to get rid of some public workers shortly – based on the sudden discovery that our public service is inefficient…
@Bush Tea
It is clear if you use the Governor’s analysis it will be a rough road if we are to reduce debt to gdp.
Kudos to Lisa Gale, who is this lady!
The quote of the night ‘the social partnership is not working’
What governor’s analysis was that…?
Are you saying that he made sense to you?
…do you mind sharing?
Ellis asked him a simple question about the discrepancy with the fall in fuel import costs, the good performance of tourism and the marginal overall result …. what is the answer?
How the hell can anyone in their right mind see the sale of a PROFITABLE state agency like National Terminals as a sensible step in addressing structural issues in the economy?
…So they will sell this to take the money to subsidise CBC, Judges driving bout in Mercedes bends with police drivers, and thousands of MP and ML cars doing personal errands?
What happens when they have sold all the silver? – auction the damn brass bowls?
@Bush Tea
His response was that we depend on tourism and we have outperformed all others. We have to to continue the build. Something to this meaning.
@ David
Exactly…… lotta shiite.
On and on about ‘productivity’ and other general topics BUT nothing specific about anything. We ARE DEAD!!!
Ellis aske him about the ongoing losses at his bank and he answers that his BUDGET this year shows a profit…..
ha ha ha
wuh shiite man, Stinkliar’s too… Any damn budget can show a surplus…..
reality is a different matter all together….
Face it David
There is a reason why old-ass men retire and stay at home and play with their toy cars.
The Governor has clearly passed that stage.
What BT is saying is correct,he is not making sense,he is talking from both sides of his mouth…….as an economist that makes sense……his closing comments were that we are masters of our fate and that we must depend on tourism…..total rubbish….
Agree the Governor was wishy-washy with his interactions.
CRITICS AT LARGE BUT NOT ONE OF THEM GOT SOLUTIONS
Based on what we heard ……we are in deep doo doo.
Ellis tried…. but you cannot get blood from a brass bowl.
They could leave the Advocate man in Fontabelle next time…. waste of space.
Dr Downes was just like Jeff C…… too concerned about political correctness to make any useful contributions…
David Ellis hosted an excellent program and was able to draw valuable information and SOLUTIONS from the panelists, especially Lisa Gale and Lisa Padmore.
Perhaps the only reason Dr. Worrell was among the guest was because the discussion was sponsored by the Central Bank. He did not adequately or coherently answer questions or explain the island’s economic performance.
Luckily for him, he had Professor Downes as back-up and of course Jewel Brathwaite’s article in the Advocate will sing Worrell’s praises.
Lisa Gale was a senior economist in the Foreign Trade Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. She advised government on International Trade and Economic Policy.
Worrel is a colossal waste of time.Ever since he dissed the statistical office figures a few years ago and supplied his own,I had no further use for him nor for his advice,let alone his wishy washy analysis and projections.Go to hell Worrel and carry Freundel with ya.
I’m not sure if BU is familiar with the “resource curse” (curse of natural resources) or the paradox of plenty. This may be described as a paradoxical situation whereby countries with an abundance of non-renewable resources experience stagnant growth or even economic contraction.
While there is not any “bulletproof” definition, the resource curse occurs as a country begins to focus all of its efforts on a single industry, (tourism, as is the case of Barbados), while neglecting other major sectors. As a result, countries may be susceptible to excessive borrowing, underdevelopment and ineffective governance.
We may refer to oil or minerals as natural resources. However, if we look at the Caribbean region, many islands package the natural resources of sunshine, beaches, natural attractions (caves, waterfalls, mountains, etc) market and offer them for sale under “tourism.” So, essentially, similarly to how Nigeria, for example, may rely on oil, the Caribbean “tourist islands” rely on tourism for economic development.
After approximately 7 years of negative growth, Barbados has found itself in a position where the government is eager to demonstrate to the populace that their economic policies are working. The government has made significant investments in the tourism industry in the form of tax concessions, infrastructural development, marketing and incentives. This is not inherently “a bad thing,” because it provides the perfect opportunity for return on investments. At this juncture, government is suggesting that due to their tourism policies, arrivals have increased, which, according to them, translates to economic growth. Hence, the 0.5% the officials are happily alluding to.
But has this investment in the tourism industry led to government neglecting or developing other sectors of the economy (i.e. lack of economic diversification)? What about our vulnerability to “revenue volatility,” which may occur if for some reason, natural or otherwise, the tourism product is no longer attractive to sell (e.g. the negative impact the recession had on tourism)? Perhaps the lack of productivity and high unemployment are proof and the answers to these questions.
If the economy is making forward movement, then the DEMS already have the solutions, why even suggest they are needed
ac January 26, 2016 at 9:42 PM #
CRITICS AT LARGE BUT NOT ONE OF THEM GOT SOLUTIONS
“ac January 20, 2016 at 5:48 AM #
the blp foot soldiers are out on the prowl bemoaning the fact that the economy is making forward movement “
NorthernObserver January 26, 2016 at 11:50 PM #
“If the economy is making forward movement, then the DEMS already have the solutions, why even suggest they are needed.”
Northern Observer, when those yard-fowls think they have something to gloat about, they write nonsense about “BLP foot soldiers,” However, when the cracks begin to show in whatever they gloat about, they write shiite ‘bout “solutions.” Typical of Maxine McClean and Donville Inniss.
Dr. Worrell talked about 0.5% growth and the idiots wrote: “the blp foot soldiers are out on the prowl bemoaning the fact that the economy is making forward movement.”
Unfortunately for them, the Governor’s poor performance trying the explain the island’s economic performance on last night’s discussion and the other panelist (not the DLP Advocate newspaper journalist) exposed the cracks in his 0.5% growth, and the yard-fowls are now writing: “CRITICS AT LARGE BUT NOT ONE OF THEM GOT SOLUTIONS.”
I’ll give them five solutions, tell Freundel to:
Engage Barbadians on issues affecting them (suh sumting, nuh)
Appoint a different individual as Central Bank Governor
Ask Chris Sinckler to resign
Replace Irene or Esther in the Senate with Jeremy Stephen and appoint him as Minister of Finance
Create a separate Ministry of sport and appoint Kellman as minister and Jeptar Ince as parliamentary secretary. Two uh dem alone is bare sport.
artax, artax….that was what ac said.
The structural challenges are grave. When you have a proud people, who have reached a very high standard of living, telling them they must retrench is suicide. The finger pointing begins. The debt load is outta control, and growing at a rapid pace.
As the Greek finance minister told Bloomberg today….Not even God and his Angels can fix Greece.
Watch it, and see if the similarities hit ya square in the face
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2016-01-26/yanis-varoufakis-missed-chance-to-stabilize-greece
northern observer, I know the ac legion of demons are the ones who wrote those comments. It was THEM to whom I referred as “yard-fowls” and “idiots,” not you.
I was only illustrating the point that when they think they have something to gloat about, they write about “BLP foot soldiers being critical.”
However, when that “something is proven incorrect and the gloating turns to shame, they then write about “bringing solutions.”
We gloat about an increase in tourism of 14% yet fx reserves continue to decline. Then there is the old suspicion of the high leakage of forex, some say 60% and double counting of cruise passengers in transit to board home porting ships. We need deep dive analysis.. This was raised with Sandals but the curiosity appears to have bombed.
Of interest.
Cuba: US eases restrictions on trade financing
Alicia Nicholls The United States’ Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Department of Commerce have announced today several further amendments to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR). These amendments further implement the new direction toward Cuba that President Obama outlined in December 2014. Key among these amendments is that US banks […]
Say what you want about Bizzy, he has been at the forefront of the charge to adopt renewable energy solutions. If we listen to Bizzy’s concerns, and he should know, and juxtapose with the expectation of Governor Worrell and the benefit to the Barbados economy in the near and medium term – there is a disconnect.
Could it be there are too many players in the industry wanting too many different thing, which causes the disconnect, they are not all on the same page. Everyone wants to be top dog, too many wannabe chiefs, not enough indians.
They all need to remember that the island is very small.
That is not the problem Well Well. The Renewable Sector needs leadership if it is identified as a national strategic goal
The problem with the renewable energy sector is the same identical one that affects the economy, water, garbage etc.
Idiots in charge, ..making idiotic baseline decisions based on greed and self-enrichment rather than on simple national interest.
The VERY best program that Bushie EVER watched on CBC was on Jan 21 when they featured Errol Barrow’s best friend talking about how Dipper operated. The man was clearly all about NATIONAL INTEREST…… unlike the pack of rabid yard-fowls who currently cling to his coat-tails…
The first mistake was the alignment of the price of RE to the price of oil. How idiotic is that?
A little research would have shown this to be the down-fall of the experiment with power generation in a sugar factory some years ago. Why should consumers have been forced to pay prices based on the then high oil price?
Of course, Bizzy did not complain at that time….he was a PRODUCER.
…and of course, why should RE revenue suffer now because OPEC is playing hardball with oil supply in pursuit of their own political ends? Indeed, all the more reason to push ahead with its development in Barbados. But at a loss…?
Then the government /FTC allowed BL&P to lie to them for YEARS about having some shiite limit on allowed RE. Wunna REALLY think that this was anything but BL&P protecting their old, soon-to-fall-apart investment in fossil generation?
Now that their lie has been exposed – of course Emera is building a 40MW plant, and have managed to convince FTC to mandate their ‘buy all sell all’ scam on the usual brass bowl suspects…
Steupsss…
Bajans are so dense that even if all the chattel houses turned into gold tonight, we would still end up poor – after finding some stupid-ass scheme whereby we would find some albinos to manage and dispose them on our behalf….
…a brass bowl and his assets are quickly parted….
@ Gabriel January 26, 2016 at 10:32 PM #
“Worrel is a colossal waste of time.Ever since he dissed the statistical office figures a few years ago and supplied his own,I had no further use for him nor for his advice,let alone his wishy washy analysis and projections.Go to hell Worrel and carry Freundel with ya.”
So Gabriel, it has taken you that long to come to that realization?
He no longer blames the annual repayment in January of the Dodds Prisons mortgage for the fall in the foreign reserves. So what does he resort to in order to explain the economic plight of Barbados?
No longer the international recession or rising oil prices; but the lowly workers especially in the public sector.
Yes Fraud Worrell, it is the low productivity of the workers that is the cause of Barbados’s economic woes. Not the country’s managerial class, both public and private) but the lowly workers who have been forced to bear the brunt of the economic dislocation over the past 7 years.
Not the bloated oversized unfit for purpose cabinet with surplus to requirements incompetents unable to execute the many projects propagandized as the multiple kick-starts economic recovery and growth and to salvation of the economy from Four Seasons to the Cruise Terminal to Andrews Sugarcane Factory to Cahill WTE.
Yes blame the public sector workers who have seen many of the colleagues retrenched and unable to get any salary increases despite a 40% increase in the cost of living (Col). The current administration was elected on the widely accepted promise to lower the CoL that had skyrocketed because of corruption between the BLP and the merchants.
The alibi given for their failure to fulfil such an electorally popular promise was the continuing rise in oil prices.
Are the workers going to see a drop in the CoL now that oil prices have fallen dramatically?
How can you believe a man or rely on his honesty and integrity who has Leroy Parris as a close buddy? What are his moral and intellectual barometric readings?
All the deceitful lying quack for a paper doctor is trying to tell you is that Barbados is heading straight for a serious IMF programme and with the continuing fall in foreign reserves the only was to get further balance of payment support is to swallow the IMF prescribed medicine of recovery and to undertake further harsh economic measures in the form privatization and outsourcing of potentially viable functions like School Meals service, street cleaning and road maintenance , garbage collection and the closing down or merging of the many unproductive parasitic agencies like NISE and the oxymoronically titled Productivity Council.
@Miller
Forgive the brevity in response to your treatise, is productivity a problem across sectors in Barbados?
@Bush Tea
The BL&P gets to used intermittent energy at a bargain rate is what you are saying? Who to blame the FTC?
I wrote him off from the first report he gave on t.v. Thought he looked like mad man. Unfortunately, not the good kind of mad man (like the one in Tanzania) that is responsible for revolutionary changes. Just a madman that thinks he can fool all of the people all of the time. From what I see, Gearbox would have made a better governor.
@ David January 27, 2016 at 9:14 AM
Productivity is a management responsibility. It is a result of management’s ability to motivate and incentivize workers in an environment that is conducive to the promotion of acceptable levels of productivity.
We are in a democratic ‘free market’ economy. Not a slave or master/servant relationship in the modern-day work place. You cannot expect to spend billions in so-called educating potential workers and continue to treat them as inferiors.
Do you really feel the current Cabinet has the moral authority to criticize public sector workers?
Aren’t we the taxpayers- their employers who are still awaiting the outcome or implementation of the many promised projects and pieces of legislation to improve governance- entitled to a higher and more effective quality of management and higher levels of productivity from our employees?
What about the productivity in Parliament in the absence of the PAC and other non-functioning regulatory or oversight committees? Where is that report on the Speaker?
First, let the so-called leaders set the examples to achieve the standards of excellence and level productivity expected of the workers.
“To whom much is given, much is expected.”
@ David
The BL&P gets to used intermittent energy at a bargain rate is what you are saying? Who to blame the FTC?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Not a bargain rate …. a rip-off rate.
Only possible in brassbados….
The whole story of “growth” is a sham.
The next time government needs a huge debt for “panem et circenses”, nobody will be there to deliver. Why should foreign creditors invest their money into iPhones, iPads, flights to Disney World, SUVs, Swiss bank accounts and other half-cooked ideas aimed to pretend Bim was a developed country? That is how the last Credit Suisse loan ends up.
For all who think the IMF is still OUTSIDE Bim, I might present the following measures implemented in Greece:
1st round 2010: VAT from 19 to 21 %, cut of salaries for public servants, eg extra salary for Christmas and holidays
2nd round 2010: freeze of wages of public servants above 2000 EUR, reduction of admin levels from 5 to 3, reduction from city councils from 1000 to 370, cancellation of 13th and 14th monthly salary, stop of hiring new public servants, higher entrance age for pension, VAT from 21 to 23 %, higher taxes on legal drugs like alcohol, also higher tax on fuel, cut of pensions
3rd round 2011: higher asset tax and higher VAT for special sectors, consolidation tax, cancellation of allowances, reduction of public servants by 150,000, longer working hours for public servants, cuts in social welfare system, reduction of military budget, cut in health system by 1 1/2 billion EUR, lower investmenets (700 mill. EUR), privatization of state assets
4th round 2012: lower minim. wage, salary cut for specific groups of public servants by 20 %, lower unemployment benefit, cut of pensions by 10 to 15 %, higher private contribution to medication and other medical means, lower salary for doctors, cut of transfers to communities, another round to dump public servants, privatization, more tax commissioners, cut of military budget
5th round 2012: another cut of pensions above 1000 EUR between 5 and 15 %, no Christmas add to pensions anymore, entry age for pensions 67 years, lower severance pay for fired workers, cancellation of additional money for Christmas and holiday for public servants, another cut of wages of public servants between 6 and 20 %, forced retirement for some old public servants, higher private contribution to medical care, lower salaries at state dependent companies, lower child benefits
6th round 2013: restructuring public admin, plan for a new land tax, task force against corruption, another cut of military budget
INTERIM conclusion 2013/14: 30 % of public servants already fired, Greece CBC closed
AFTER Tsipras “celebrated” independence against Europeans Empress in the middle of 2015:
15th July 2015: unification of VAT between 6 and 23 %, at the end higher VAT eg for medication, cancellation of tax rebates for Greece islands, confirmation of new entry age for pensions (67 years), statutory “debt brake”
22th July 2015: reform of court procedures on civil law to speed up trials
More will come (VAT and pensions) … The story never ends.
Every citizen of Barbados should read this list very carefully. You might identify some measures already imlemented in Bim. Other measures will come – take that for sure. They are all from the IMF textbook. In other words: Barbados is already under control of the IMF.
We cannot have any sustainable economic growth with the current model. This is true of the entire CARICOM community.
The path to sustainable economic growth should start with well managed import substitution and increased Agricultural production.
Tron;
Your 11:57 post should be required reading.
We are firmly on that path.
@are-we-there-yet
I know Greece public servants on salary level comparable to S5/6 earning 1,200 EUR net per month, but paying the same amount for food as in Northern Europe. I guess that is less than in Barbados.
If one examines the situation in Greece, the IMF, part of the so-called “Troika”, clearly made things worse. That is also true for the debt level relative to GDP. As you and others convinced me here and before, an economy in recession cannot shoulder sharp tax increases but more likely structural adjustment of administration and more flexible rules for private companies. Tax increases are best placed in a booming economy.
Did minister Lowe say an environmental tax is coming?
Any austerity must start with the top around the cabinet table.Barbados can be governed with a third of the ministers/parliamentary secretaries there are now.
One of the problems the BBC cited for the Greek collapse was that not many were paying income taxes. We are well on our way with that as well. Only those who are paid salaries and wages do that on a regular basis.
Not an IMF stipulation. Just something more in common with the Greeks.
The front page Editorial in today’s Nation seems to be casting aspersions on Davis Ellis and Jewel Brathwaite? They referred to last night discussion as ‘staged’?
Typically Bajan, David. The word is aspersions not aspirations.
@Donna
You are aware it was an error as a result of carelessness, nothing typical about it. Thanks anyway.
Nation posting Sour grapes
Here is the Nation’s editotial? Some points with merit. The media must speakout about these issues more.
ENOUGH!
Related articles
- Governor expects growth next year…
- Mascoll queries governor’s stand…
- Higher labour force productivity…
We do not doubt that governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, Dr DeLisle Worrell, takes the responsibilities of that high office personally. But that can be no justification for him to assume the prerogative to turn public accountability of office into a personal periodic plaything.
The last time Dr Worrell held a genuine news conference to address issues related to the economy was on May 7, 2014. Last night, for the second time since then, he chose instead to go the route of a highly-promoted televised “discussion”, paid for by a bank with declining profits. We note that two hand-picked media men were invited, presumably to lend it journalistic legitimacy.
We do not question the integrity of the two journalists selected by the governor to attend his event, but a stage-managed “discussion” surely cannot lead to creation of the best atmosphere for appropriate scrutiny.
We abhor this obfuscation of culpability and transparency and dismiss it as counter to the best interest of the country.
It is clear from his evasion of our journalists since the 2014 news conference, that Dr Worrell has had major difficulty with the manner in which this newspaper has reported on matters of an economy that has not been on its best behaviour. But we are not yet an arm of the public relations department at Church Village and we will resist any left-handed attempt to corral us.
Carrying out our time-hallowed mandate will naturally bring us into conflict with governors and governments. It is par for the course and requires maturity on both sides. We may not always get it right, but we will not resort to tantrums or the boyish behaviour he may anticipate.
The maintenance of good governance of our public affairs will not be achieved if, on a whim, our leaders choose to create barriers to genuine public scrutiny.
For decades the bank’s standing in the Barbadian community was influenced by the fact that its governors did not shy away from engaging all sections of the Press in robust question-and-answer sessions, providing enlightening information for public consumption.
Indeed, faith in the economic policies of the government of the day was often influenced by the way past governors Dr Courtney Blackman, Mr Winston Cox, Dr Kurleigh King, Mr Calvin Springer and Dr Marion Williams explained particular circumstances and responded to questions from the media.
Subjective a conclusion as it may be, we get the impression that the communication methods of this governor have contributed in no small measure to an attitude of cynicism and mistrust about economic information among Barbadians.
The era of a colonial governor telling Barbadians what he felt like and when he felt like ended 50 years ago. We are not about to celebrate that significant political turnaround by kowtowing to any modern-day Westminster remake of any hue.
We invite Dr Worrell to return to the high road set by his esteemed predecessors.
It is his duty and we will not let the public forget that.
– See more at: http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/77150/page-editorial#sthash.vebdKVoE.dpuf
David…..don’t you think the major problem is everybody wants to lead, own and control the sector and if not, why not…..how is it everyone is talking renewable energy, the new buzzword, yet no leadership can be found, exactly what are you saying.
“The VERY best program that Bushie EVER watched on CBC was on Jan 21 when they featured Errol Barrow’s best friend talking about how Dipper operated”
I didn’t watch the program but if you are speaking of Carlton Brathwaithe then I suspect his story would be full of embellishments to deify his saviour
How can citizens trust a political administration which promises so much and delivers so little other than a “bariffle” of lies and cane rows of corruption from a barrel of monkeys?
Who is getting the kickbacks through finders’ fees and consultancies from the Imaginary Sugar Cane Industry Restructuring project that should be completed this year in time for the will-o’-the-wisp 2017 crop season?
Can you expect them to restructure and reform the Public sector without direct orders and supervision of the IMF?
Here is what the MoF promised in August 2013:
Major Agriculture Reform:
In the area of agriculture our principal focus in the next eighteen months, Sir, will be the initiation of the major restructuring of the local sugar cane industry. As is well known, this industry has been on a steady and sure decline for many years now, having suffered not only from a dismantling of the preferential arrangements with Europe but also because of serious internal challenges relating to financing and excess cost over the ability to earn.
And in the face of a failure by the authorities to do a serious restructuring of the industry it has now come to a juncture at which an ignominious collapse was awaiting. This administration has however designed, and successfully sought financing to advance, a major restructuring of the industry over the next three years, starting next year, in what is the Barbados Cane Industry Project.
Funding for this exercise (which will see the re-engineering of an existing sugar factory so as to allow it to engage multiple applications, including the production of bio-mass for the co-generation of electricity) has been agreed with the Japanese Bank of International Corporation and Japanese commercial banks for up to US270 million dollars.
Negotiations with all stakeholders including the workers’ representatives have already begun and the Ministry of Agriculture will be making a fuller pronouncement of the details of the project in the coming weeks.
It is expected that this project will begin implementation in the first quarter of next year and run for three full years. It will radically reform sugar agriculture while having very positive spin-off effects on non-sugar crop production.
That is a good editorial David.
The Governor avoids press conferences because (unlike most Bajans apparently,) he must know that he is an incoherent joker….
Shiite man, …wuh Bushie still goes back to that video of him explaining “currency exchange policy” …anytime the bushman needs a good laugh…
This is an OBVIOUS case of a ‘bull shitter’ looking to extend his undeserved appointment to a position that he has no clue how to manage…. Why would he risk making it obvious to even AC that he is clueless, by facing REAL questions?
Even the most obvious question about the weak performance in the face of huge fuel cost reductions that Ellis posed went unanswered at the ‘discussion’…. and there was no followup….
But then he fits in well with the other National Finance managers in Brassbados…. and most of us bowls too…
Cuh dear balance…
You don’t think Bushie knows about Carlton …. and anticipates his bias…?
Even so, the picture of a man who was meticulous with the country’s money; avoided the temptation to enrich himself; and enjoyed the basic pleasures of life while having the power to do otherwise …presents a special lesson for us at this time in brassbados….
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