Prime Minster Mia Mottley immediately reports on her visit to Washington where she met with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by Managing Director Christine Lagarde. In a few words she summarized the visit in a few words – ‘we got this’.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley Reports on IMF Visit – “We Got This”
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109 responses to “Prime Minister Mia Mottley Reports on IMF Visit – “We Got This””
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Barbados will only get an IMF loan, IF the IMF considers Barbados to be able to pay back the loan plus interest in currencies like USD/EUR etc pp. This is crucial for the IMF, not the internal budget in useless Mickey Mouse-Dollars with lots of Barrows printed on them. The budget only indicates the development of foreign reserves.
So far there are NO USD reserves to pay back any loan (ref: Miller). If Barbados gets – say – 400 mio. USD, Barbados must be able to earn 400 mio. USD plus interest over the loan period to satisfy any IMF conditions.
So far I do not see the slightest chance that Barbados will earn such a surplus in foreign currency.
Barbadians demand a lot, a new SUV every 5 years, yearly holiday in Florida for Disneyland or shopping in NYC, but the masses are unwilling to work and they deliver very, very expensive services for tourists. There is no prospect such a surplus.
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But Bernard, I am still a first former…with a shitload of words both foreign, local etc in my head, including all that information I regularly regurgitate that everyone else tend to forget with theeir 15 second attention spans and short memories…so I really do need a dictionary..since one word can have 4 meanings…and that is only in English…
if we start talking about Spanish, that is a whole other world and French..bon dieu..and those are only 2 additional languages..so you get my drift where word interpretations combined with learning…never, ever ends..
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“There is no use in reading the first definition….and not the second, obviously the words does not only apply to physics,”
Nice. -
Mariposa
I have been very critical and sceptical about Mia Mottley, but, have to give credit where credit is due. So far she looks the part and is living up to what bajans expect her to do. I still believe that she is rogue, but until she proves otherwise, her work so far is making the DLP look like real real thieves whose agenda was to get as much as they could through Mark Maloney and the other cronies that came into millions of dollars. Give the woman the benefit of the doubt. So far so good. Stop being yardie. The DLP are gone and done wid.
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Get this…
Some phrases by my fellow Bajans just irritate the hell out of me “” phrases that show a disconnect with reality””
Gold coast, south coast, platinum coast, east coast, west coast
Punching above its weight
Leading developing country
Founding fathers
Framers of the constitution
Manufacturing sector
400 million $BDS
500 million $BDS
Negotiations with the IMFLet’s forget the cliches, the need to big-up Barbados and putting it on par with larger and more developed countries.
Barbados and its psyche need a complete overhaul.
Civics, pride nationhood, honesty and patriotism need to be taught in the school,
A day’s pay for an honest day of work need to be part of the national pledge.
Cronyism, yardfowlism and constitutional amendment for a select few need to be taken off the playbook.
Sunshine laws, where ALL government deals are brought to light after a fixed period of time (maximum five years)
Transparency legislation
Investigation of corrupt practices. This should be met with jail time for those who were corrupted or the investigators (if they cannot get the job done) -
Language and the lexicon we use is dynamic. It is a living system. Focus on the ability to communicate effectively.
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TheoGazerts for education 🙂
Barbados has lovely beaches, palms, sun, rum, colourful houses and pleasant people.
You do not need a Mercedes Benz and items like this in paradise.
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You speak if the dlp giving croonies big contracts
However avoid even mentionong that Mia on her first mission as PM gave away millions of taxpayers money to the wealthy without even a word to the public before doing
On top of all that she now is asking the taxpayer to shoulder those writeoff with pain and suffering. It befuddles the mind how any one can excuse that type of behaviour with an act by govt that lines the pockets of tge wealthy without even a peek of concern .Then proceeds to talk about past govt contracts given to a certain sector of society.
Letting the truth cut both ways is continual and tantamount to restoring confidence in the people and govt and not finished after a govt is elected -
Look…I can’t take it anymore, who in Barbados is trying to get an invite to the Royal Gay Wedding, I posted the info since morning and not a fella unpick they teet…
.when it was Harry and Meghan, everyone was posting on who from the consulate and here and there will be invited..all the pimp title holders had their chops and best suits prepared…
ah want to know who is going to the history making buckingham palace gay wedding….is it you Bushman?
Everyone knows despite my beating up on everyone including those in the palace, fair game to me….., no matter who, when it suits me …..SO who is going to the gay wedding..
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@Tron
I have read your many posts. You are like John the Baptist crying in the wilderness of Barbados.
You present a harsh reality and I suspect your prescription of doses of cod liver oil without accompanying lumps of sugar leaves many uncomfortable.
Keep it real. Preach on. -
The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) has advised that while a voluntary recall was recently issued by Hanschell Inniss on Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now expanded that recall to include aa Kellogg’s Honey Smacks.
Acting Deputy Director of the DCCA, Margaret Campbell-Leslie, said the department, which is charged with the protection of consumers, is therefore advising all individuals not to eat and to discard any Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal. This is regardless of size or “best if used by” dates.
https://barbadostoday.bb/2018/06/17/recall-on-all-kelloggs-honey-smacks-cereals/
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“Residents are being advised of low water pressure and outages across the island.
…
Barbados Water Authority’s rapid response and communications manager Joy-Ann Haigh called in to today’s Down to Brass Tacks radio programme and said they were investigating the issues.” -
@TRON
@WILY COYOTEWhat is your current take on the Devaluation scenario? In your view what is the probability of a devaluation within the next 12 months, say?
A. Dullard
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A. Dullard,
The Greenback has been appreciating in recent days. Can our economists explain this phenomenon?
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@ The Honourable Blogmaster
Oft has it transpired that you have reached out to public officials here on BU asking them to answer to a question about their dealings and their integrity and all of that FOI pretty talk.
In fact many have been the times when you have for example asked Downlowe to declare his hand with the Cahill situation
And you have done the same with Michael Carrington?
And With Freundel Stuart and all the rests of them.
Yet here it is that someone is asking you to make a declaration as it relates to 4 simple questions and you are hiding from every request for that information.
Don’t you think that having taken the his road of the Wrong that needs assistance that you are somehow bound to adhere to your rules?
Why is it that you can’t answer any of these questions about WHAT ARE YOUR GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS?
1.How prepared is Barbados Underground to share with us bloggers at BU if we bloggers have any similar Freedom of Information rights as are guaranteed under the GDPR?
2.Do you propose to adhere to any GDPR policies on behalf of your bloggers?
3.Can your “data subjects” exercise any rights as it relates to (a) a right to be informed and/OR (b) a right for our data to be forgotten?
4.Would you prepared to share any such BU GPDR Policies under a separate Blog here where you detail your policies?
5.Has the BU site been sold or is under different shareholdership and/or external allegiances that are inimical to the interests of us Bloggers?
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@ The Honourable Blogmaster
Your assistance please heheheheheh with a document that is lost in transmission heheheheh
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Maldivians vote out pro-China president by wide margin(Quote)
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Here is an essay for first year economic students: Is there a contradiction between a government that claims the so-called blue economy is part of its economic strategy and a ban on over fishing? Discuss.
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As the Anglican Bishop of Barbados-elect prepares for his new role, he is already thinking of ways to address the issues stemming from the tough economic times.
“The main concern I think that’s on everybody’s mind is where Barbados is in terms of the economy,” Maxwell said during an interview at his home church in Ruby, St Philip, on Saturday.
“Of course crime is an issue, but I think crime is stemming from the economic situation. If we aren’t able to get ourselves out of this situation we find ourselves in with the economy, then we’ll have to be concerned with the crime,” he added. (Quote)This is the problem with Barbados, every one is an expert economist and politician – even the Bishop. He is also a criminologist. Most of us would like him to concentrate on matters spiritual.
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S&P upgrade Barbados crecit rating to a B-
Watch and see how quick David post an article to that piece of jobby news while closing eyes to pain and suffering of the people
That news is only good for the debt collectors who sees an advantage to the austerity measures by which govt is committed in order to pay the debt
In the meanwhile cat piss and pepper takes a foothold on the lives of the barbadian people
Jesus take the wheel -
The Mottley administration is seeking to borrow from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to build low-income houses in an effort to combat over-crowding in some public housing estates – money the previous administration sent back to the bank.
The issue of density in areas such as Pine and Wildey, St Michael, and Silver Hill and Gall Hill, Christ Church, among other areas, still exists because the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) administration returned $48 million out of $60 million borrowed from the IDB for the Housing Neighbourhood project, Prime Minister Mottley said.(Quote)This is what I mean by ill-thought out plans. Silly nonsense about so-called low-income homes comes from the mind of an idealess person. What is urgently needed is a proper urban development plan with well designed homes fit for the 21st century, not the match boxes we have in Parish Land. How can she plan to spend Bds$48m on building new homes, and Bds$200m on repairing roads? She is bonkers.
The woman needs proper advisers, and not just her childhood friends. -
Barbados’ financial system is too dependent on commercial banks, unbalanced, narrow, and not good at mobilizing domestic savings for domestic investment, Professor Avinash Persuad said.
The Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Investment and Financial Services holds the view that a heavy dependence on the banks must change, if the economy is to grow, and new jobs created.
Speaking at the 20th anniversary dinner and awards ceremony for FundAccess, at Accra Resort, last night, Professor Persuad, also suggested that Barbados’ bank loans to bank deposits are too low for macroeconomic stability and growth.
“We need other, perhaps new institutions, to take the risks that we need to grow our economy. We need to strengthen our financial ecosystem,” he said.
“We have the problem of missing markets, missing financial institutions, missing segments of a financial ecosystem. And that is where the regulatory Sandboxes and Trust Loans that were announced over the past few months, fit in with Fund Access. They are all a critical part of a plan to build a new ecosystem, better fit to mobilize domestic savings for lending to the new economy.”
The Professor explained that in a financial ecosystem fit for purpose, the banks would still have a central role. He noted that banks are an integral part of the payments system, a transfer of account from one bank to another, and cannot be questioned if the payment system is to work day in and day out.
He said that as a result of the unique role they play in settlement of payments, banks will always be unique lenders, and noted that they have to be, as there is no amount of cajoling that will or should change that.
“We can help them to become broader lenders, through using the convening power of government to establish, for instance, one national credit bureau. The Ministry of Economic Affairs is working on that. But we need other institutions in our ecosystem to take risks,” he said.
He argued that the next segment of the ecosystem should be credit unions and their modern-day equivalent, peer-to-peer lenders, that are non-bank savings institutions, not critical to the payments system, and are in a position to take more risks.
According to Professor Persuad, next year the Financial Services Commission will be developing new regulations for peer-to-peer lenders that will encourage and regularize the industry. The regulatory Sandbox launched in November, is there to support other innovative solutions to fill the space beside peer-to-peer, he said.
“And next year, we plan the first in the world, multi-jurisdictional sandbox, the idea being that if you test a new product in our sandbox in Barbados, you can sell that product in another jurisdiction because we have mutual regulation of our sandboxes,” he said.
The Special Envoy suggested that the next level of risk-taking needs another type of institution, the space currently inhabited by FundAccess – businesses denied access to loans from the banks because they have insufficient collateral to borrow.
He suggested that this is a market far in excess of the capacity of FundAccess, and informed, that going forward, there is a need to consider new ways in which to leverage up the capital of FundAccess.
Professor Persuad said discussions are currently being held with international multilateral development agencies on boosting the Fund’s capital, and new ways are being looked at to leverage or blend the amount of capital the Fund puts in with private and public sector lenders and augment the Fund’s business development services and training.
“Below FundAccess is another market, one we are trying to reach with Trust Loans. Individuals with no collateral but good business ideas. Very early start-ups. We offer borrowers small loans and only reward them with more significant credits if they repay on time. They build their social capital with their repayment history, and we give them greater access to funds. We trust them. If they repay that trust, they grow,” Professor Persuad informed.
FundAccess Chairman David Simpson said that in 20 years, the Fund has disbursed $61,345,728 in loans to 1,539 businesses/clients, representing 1,924 new and refinanced loans, resulting in 2,323 jobs created. Simpson said that there is not an industry or service that the agency has not financed.
The Board and management, in recent years, to ensure that no one is left behind, created a range of packages, Business Boost, Facilitator, Innovator, Pro, Transport and others, up to a maximum of $150,000 per loan.
“This is the only lending agency that even when you are declined, will provide step by step guidance as to what you need to undertake to be successful when you re-apply. When we decline a loan, it is often the 4th or 5th option, after all efforts have been expended to provide approval.
“I am privileged to stand before you tonight as we culminate our 20th anniversary celebrations, to report to you that in 2018, as at November 30, FundAccess has disbursed $5,418,153 in loans for the calendar year, surpassing only two other occasions in history that in excess of $5 million was disbursed in 2011 and 2012. I am confident that 2019 will see us surpassing the 6 million mark,” Simpson said.
Long standing staff members, as well as persons who at all cost, contributed to the growth and development of FundAccess, were awarded for their contributions.(Quote)
Is this the thinking underlying BERT? If so, why was it not spelt out at the launch of the policy? Now we have been told the problem, what is the Mottley-led BLP government solution?
The professor talks about Barbados banks, what exactly does he mean? Does he thin a Barbados domiciled bank, or shadow bank, is a pre-requisite for economic growth? Is the government going to publish a detailed paper on its BERT policy, spelling out its entirety, or do we have to wait for further speeches and powerpoint presentations? -
Barbados may soon be welcoming another American university to its shores.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley today revealed that talks with Chamberlain University have already begun and she was hoping those discussions can soon be “wrapped up”.
She made the disclosure during a tour of the Villages at Coverley, where 1,500 students and staff at the Ross University School of Medicine will reside.(Quote)Is this our economic future, an offshore base for US so-called universities? Is this BERT in action? Are we now to b a nation of room maids, waiters and chauffeurs?
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Are we now to b a nation of room maids, waiters and chauffeurs?
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Stupid question.
Has that not been the vision for past 40 years?
Is this not why we handed Butch Stewart a 40-year lease to rule bout here?
Is that not what the new hotel plan championed by Enuff represents?The only difference is that, having failed to woo sufficient rich volunteer tourist…
we now have to turn to second rate students who are constrained to be here to gain bogus degrees.But this is what ALWAYS happens to prostitutes when they pass their ‘sell by’ date…
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It looks like in the short term the government will remain vested in the old model. Do they have a choice?
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@ David
What are you saying…?Say you are dying from diabetes and cancer because you have been on a long term diet of shiite food that was manufactured by albino-centric extortionists focused on making profits.
Do you have a choice of making fundamental changes to your LONG TERM diet – at some discomfort and requiring thoughtful effort? …or are you constrained to continue eating the shiite food because it is readily available?What would you consider to be the INTELLIGENT answer…?
…and if we have no ‘choice’ but the latter, what do you expect the outcome to be…?
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test
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Are we now to b a nation of room maids, waiters and chauffeurs?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++You forgot security guards and “general workers”.
You well know there is no serious policy discussion or long term thinking in this part of the world. We always go for tho low hanging fruit regardless of the outcome.
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@ A> Dullard,
How about limbo dancers? Can we make limbo dancing part of BERT? It will earn foreign currencies and our students can do PhDs in Bajan cultural dances,.
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Pauline Richards still lives in the childhood home she grew up in 72 years ago.
The problem is, the house which her father built for his family, has collapsed around her.
At 77 years old and suffering with a number of illnesses, including diabetes and high blood pressure, the elderly woman has nowhere else to go and no money to rebuild the house.(Quote)Does BERT allow for eliminating abject poverty? Are the people paying Haitian travel cost going to donate to removing this disgraceful level of poverty in Barbados? Is pensioner poverty a political issue in Barbados?
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“I think that really is the DLP’s major deficiency now that they have to identify a candidate or spokesperson that has the kind of economic backbone that could match up to Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Struaghn, Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs Marsha Caddle, Economic Advisor Clyde Mascoll and Avinash Persaud, which is fairly awesome,” said Wickham.(Quote)
Maybe Mr Wickham can provide evidence, empirical or theoretical, to justify this inflated view that the Mottley-led BLP government’s economic team is ‘awesome’. Or is this Bajan hyperbole?
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China has just injected US$84bn in to its banking system. Is there a lesson there for our Mottley-led government? Is here a case for a Barbados-domiciled bank? Are the BERT technocrats going to explain policies?
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A leading political economist is warning the Government that Barbadians may soon suffer structural adjustment fatigue under the current International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme and that alternative concessionary financing may be necessary.
As a matter of fact, head of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, (SALISES) Dr Don Marshall suggested that while Barbadians are prepared to bite the austerity bullet, the current mood indicates that patience is wearing thin even though the programme is in its early stage.
“The reality is that the measures and the austerity are hard. Barbadians are prepared like Kittians, Grenadians and Jamaicans to give it a go. However the political leadership as well as the political ruling elite will be wise to take note of the domestic mood and the capacity for adjustment fatigue,” Marshall told Barbados TODAY.
He therefore contended that Government must seek to buffer the possible social fallout by pivoting to other sources of concessionary financing such as China.
“We are right now in a four-year arrangement that requires us to perform at levels of permanent surplus target, in terms of our budget, of six per cent. They [IMF] have asked us to sustain that six per cent for the majority of the four years as a pre-condition for assessing any further loans from the IMF and other support institutions. We have to be in a position now with the Chinese monies on offer to be able to leverage globalization much wiser,” said Marshall
The political economist argued that the global financial order is much broader than what the “IMF would have the region believe”, noting that there is a shift towards China, as the Asian nation is emerging as another pillar for alternative financing.
“We must not shut off this option but look at it, see what loans we can gather. We have to note that it provides you with the fiscal space to do things and make critical decisions. Certainly in Barbados’ case I would recommend that just after we meet certain targets that we should look to diversify our reliance from the IMF and associated agencies and move towards lending coming from China at this point,” he said.
He noted that like any other lender the Chinese lending would come with some conditions. However he argued that these conditions were less onerous than those imposed by the IMF.
“There is evidential research from Peru to Brazil and some small island Pacific states that this lending has helped. Vanuatu has benefited from this, having emerged from very devastating cyclone and hurricane to reach levels of development thanks to Chinese lending,” Marshall pointed out.
The UWI lecturer asked to square his position against the fact that action taken under the IMF-approved Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme, has earned positive feedback from two credit rating agencies.
Earlier this month, regional ratings agency, the Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS), upgraded Barbados’ local currency rating to CariBB with a stable outlook, up from CariD, while projecting economic growth of about one per cent this year. The upgrade came two months after the New York-based Standard & Poor’s (S&P) raised its long- and short-term local currency sovereign credit ratings on Barbados to ‘B-/B’ from ‘SD/SD’ (Selective Default).
However Marshall made it clear that these measuring sticks do not paint an accurate picture.
“If you are in an IMF program, you’re joining a particular elite idea and agreement about how these economies ought to run. The credit rating agencies are part of that consensus. So I’m not surprised by the upgrades and so on. You could impress creditors but not voters. You could impress party supporters, but you may not really impress a citizenry,” he explained.(Quote)When are we on BU going to discuss BERT in a mature way?
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Prime Minister, Mia Mottley says gross under population is one of many major obstacles to the economic development of Barbados and the wider region which was in urgent need of reform.
In her assessment of the region’s economy in San Juan, Puerto Rico during Wednesday’s Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) on the Caribbean Economy on Post-Disaster Recovery, Prime Minister Mottley charged that outdated development models, which need urgent reform, were stifling regional economies.
“We need to reverse the investment by industrialization model of the 50s. The development model must change,” said Mottley, who highlighted a number of key areas where the region continues to fall behind.Former US president Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Mia Mottley enjoying a light moment.
“The hidden secret of the Caribbean is that we are under-populated. When you look at Barbados, we are 430 squared kilometers. Singapore is about 670 and is 15 times our population. Guyana is the size of England, Scotland and Wales combined. They have 65 million people, Guyana has 780,000. Suriname is larger than the Netherlands, which has 17 million people, but Suriname has 580,000. I can go on and on and on. We have not changed the discussion; we have not changed the development model,” she charged.
In addition to the need for a significant increase in the population, Prime Minister Mottley argued that Barbados and many of its regional neighbors still lacked a population armed with the skills necessary for development.
“We were satisfied to educate 30 or 40 per cent of the population and let the others come along. That cannot be . . .
we have a benefit that technology removes the hindrances of size and geography and we literally have to invest in the re-education of as many of our people as possible, such that each one matters.”
Mottley also accused regional governments of failing to break away from colonial models of development.
“We have not removed ourselves from being able to distinguish ourselves between Elizabeth [Queen of England] and Isabella [Former Queen of Spain]. And therefore that colonization of the region has put us on a development path that has not maximized our economic resources in the way in which it can,” she said, while adding that even after independence, the actions of more powerful countries have stifled development.
“Part and parcel of our problem in the region, is that the region has been invited on numerous occasions to pursue paths and then when they get good at it, the developed world says ‘no, stop, change, we’re not allowing you to do that anymore as has happened with financial services. And part of the difficulty is that we continue to be unequally yoked in a global discussion. Leaders don’t talk to each other, so you’re unequally yoked in the conversation and therefore those matters that affect development cannot be pursued.”
Mottley further identified a stifling lack of accessible financing from within the region as another hindrance to growth, again chiding local and regional financial institutions for attempting to take advantage of prospective borrowers.
“There’s about US$47 billion in savings and right now if those savings are left in the commercial banks, they attract a savings rate of 0.1%, yet businesses are borrowing at seven, eight, nine and ten per cent throughout the region,” said Mottley, who added that in light of climate change, financing remained critical to the development of a thriving renewable energy sector.
“We have a moral obligation to unlock renewable energy for the benefit of the Caribbean people and to unlock the investments that are possible, but we’ve got to create the instruments that can then be married with foreign capital to make this a real possibility. In my own country we have set a target of 2030 for a fossil fuel free economy at best or a carbon neutral economy at worst because we don’t have a choice.
“We’ve seen our coral reefs die, yet our maritime space is 400 times our land space, but we’ve allowed over the decades our coral reefs to die, with consequential changes in our marine life and coastal erosion and yet tourism is our primary source of business. So we don’t have the luxury of time anymore in the region,” said the PM.(Quote)Now we have an emerging framework of the prime minster’s vision of the kind of society she thinks Barbados should be. Let us deconstruct this juvenile argument.
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Lot a words but no substance
Over population and no sembelance of finding a way for a country to be productive produces poverty
In her speech she should adress the antiquated school systems in small islands nations that only produce below average grades students that cannot compete on an above paygrade in a global market by having ideas that can help build and restructure and produce or develop products that create and breathe economic life into an economy
Singapore has and educational system that helps to drive their economy making their people a major and crucial part of their development which mean that the size of the population is necessary
Barbados education system has flatlined
First start to create an educational system with a need to construct a model that is driven to be productive in helping to build an economy in all seriousness before talking about overpopulating a country that cannot sustain itself . -
@ Mariposa,
The prime minister did get a picture with Bill Clinton first Trump, now Clinton, who is next. Seriously, the issue of overpopulation alludes to productivity, but it is badly put and lacks economic logic. I can only assume she got that argument from Professor Persaud. The Chinese PR won’t be that analytical.
Interesting that t draws on the so-called Singapore model, and as usual draws on the part to fit a particular argument, while leaving out the substantial bits.
It would have been more helpful if she had put that argument to the people of Barbados prior to May 24, rather than a speech in Puerto Rico, when she imagined she was punching above her weight. -
“First start to create an educational system with a need to construct a model that is driven to be productive in helping to build an economy in all seriousness before talking about overpopulating a country that cannot sustain itself ”
Hmmmmm……….
Are you the same individual who castigated many in this forum for disagreeing with Ronald Jones in 2014 that:
“Barbados needs a slightly bigger population. The land size of 166 square miles must not be a hindrance . . . . If it can’t be reproduced in Barbados – because the Barbados Family Planning Association (BFPA) has overdone its job – then we must open our doors and [invite] a careful selection of those who can deliver children and within a certain age range.” He said an increase in population would “make sense of the programmes we are looking to develop in Barbados: more people paying taxes, more people eating our agricultural produce and utilising our manufactured goods and services. “Over the next ten years we have to change the size of this population. We can comfortably go to 325 000 [and] people could still live comfortably in the space they have.”
…….. and Donville Inniss in 2017 that there needs to be a “rebalancing” of Barbados’ population given the noticeable decline in recent years……
“The Minister who concurs fully with Education Minister, Ronald Jones’, call for the population to be increased, said there is undisputed evidence which shows that the percentage of the working and reproductive age population has not been growing at the same rate as the retired or aged population.
This he said naturally puts pressure on the society as a whole to be able to care for the elderly for the state to be able to provide the range of services that all citizens need in the future. “Therefore, it is a rational call for the younger population size to increase.” Inniss said this can occur either as a result of women having more babies, by way of immigration or both.”I’m happy you had a “change of heart” and finally admitted there was some validity in what other contributors were “saying” at the time.
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Does the current economic situation suggest that Barbados can support a larger population?
To just compare land areas is a part of the equation, If we use just that criterion, then desert areas are un-populated.Isn’t it amusing how those for are now against and those again seem to like the idea..
Of course there is concern for the percentage of different age groups represented in the population. Remedying that problem requires serious thought and remember .that some thought that the arrival of a few Haitians was a strain on the island.
I see a rise in population causing a decrease of wages for those on the lower rungs of the ladder. We must be careful that we do not reproduce and ugly part of our history….. We need serious discussion on how to solve these problems. It has to be more than party A polishing of an old idea of party B and bringing it to the public.
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those again = those against now
un-populated = under-populated
The rest of the typos are there to be nitpicked. -
@ Theo,
In normative economics the questions of population growth s either associated with economic productivity, or with the demographic timebomb. In terms of the demographic timebomb, it s irrelevant since our pensions system is in chaos.
In a pay-as-you-go pensions system, the contributions made by working population go towards paying the benefits of the retired. The only developed country that does not have a demographic problem is, ironically, the US, because the number of immigrants coming in are the ones who pay the equivalent of our national insurance. In Europe, Japan, China, all suffer from a demographic timebomb.
The key point is that Europe is not in misery because they do not want to go down the US route, with more immigrants. In France they are asking young women to have more children. -
Artax is it your job to sit side ways like a side winder and pin point past comments made by bloggers
Why would u not reply to the comments made by the PM who more and more each day seems to having a change of heart on past govt policies she vehemently crticize
Fuh christ sake i can say and do what evere i please
I aint minister of any sh.it that affects barbados economy. -
Barbados has a great reservoir if2 knoweldge in the diaspora that govt can tap into to get help to develop and reconstruct the economy
But has any govt seen such need to acess from that well sourced reservoir
The answer is No.
Now we have a PM on the wirld stage talking jobby politics to impress herself
Just do as some field work in the diaspora and her comments
Many hands make light work would ring true. -
@ Mariposa,
Spot on. There are an estimated 250000 Barbadians or people of Barbadian descent in the UK alone, many of them young professionals. The only time the government, or high commission acting as agents for the government, has ever approached them is to sell some silly bonds, which unless they were regulated was illegal in the UK.. Unregulated people cannot give financial or pensions advice in the UK. Anyone claiming to be an adviser must be on the regulator’s website as registered.
The DLP government also came up with the Diaspora biennial meetings, which was a very good idea. But people who hold responsible positions (ie a director of social services in the metropolitan council manages a budget bigger than the entre budget of the Barbados government)..
I remember sometime ago a very bright young Barbadian prepared a paper to present to one of these meeting and sat for ages listening to Maxine McClean telling him about finance and regulation. He told me he would never attend any such Diaspora meeting again. -
Mariposa
It’s true you “aint minister of any sh.it that affects barbados economy,” but it’s clear you’re a hypocrite.
And by “pin pointing past comments made by bloggers” such as you, who once supported certain policies, but now there is a change of government, you re now criticizing them…….
……..is my way of highlighting your dishonesty and hypocrisy.
Just like how you find all things to oppose means testing, “saying” it was nonsense……
………that was until Sinckler mentioned government was looking to implement the system…….
……..you found all types of reasons to support its implementation.
That’s what yard-fowls like you do best.
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Artax your political poop stands to convict your own words via hypocrisy one which stands as further proof as (u) being a blp yardfowl
I rest my case
Have a good day yardfowl -
These Bajan politicians have Singapore “fever” they always use Singapore as a measuring stick of which Barbados has fallen short. It is like the school child whose parents constantly remind him/her Ms. Jones child is “first” in form why are you in 20th position? Never mind the circumstances that propelled the Jones kid to 1st place, anyway I digress. Singapore is a unicorn, there are geographical, historical, mixture of ethnic groups and yes some politicians that propelled it to become an economic anomaly. I have no training in the dismal science but if a large population is one of the keys to economic success someone should tell people in Bangladesh, The Philippines and Yemen to name a few that they have missed the bus.
Hey I have a solution since consultancy is in vogue why not hire a few Singaporeans to show us how its done, they may enjoy a little breathing space in our less crowded environment.
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Hal in other words if she anxiously seeking to expand the population her sourcing she be from a reservoir of wealth and knoweldge found in the dispora like low hanging easy to pick
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Mariposa
That settles it…….. we’re BOTH yard-fowls.
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Artax Congratulations finally u admit
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