est. 2007

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No Haircut for Old People Says PM Mottley

Extracted from Facebook page SURVIVING OUR HARSH ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

The news that the government has taken the decision to rollback on a decision to implement a debt restructure program intended to be broad brush is good news. To have inflected the level of emotional stress on senior citizens whose focus should be enjoying the fruits of their labour in the golden years can only be described as unconscionable.

There is also a conversation in the country that is getting louder about the possibility of citizens bringing a legal motion against government on the basis breach of contract. Such an action is unlikely given the passive deposition of the Bajan and the unwillingness of lawyers in Barbados to take on government with high profile action.

The blogmaster can paint other scenarios where Barbadians were duped to invest in government paper for love of country. There is a large cadre of middleclass that invested in government paper because the law forces the retiree (beneficiary of severance) to favourably consider this option to avoid a cash penalty.

How do citizens whose lives have been significantly altered reconcile the feeling of hopelessness with the fact the country is broke?

 

 

 

 

128 responses to “No Haircut for Old People Says PM Mottley”

  1. FearPlay Avatar
    FearPlay

    PeterL – the doctor can only recommend a lifestyle change for the patient but the patient has to be the one to bring about the change. The doctor cannot legislate the behavior change.

  2. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    @ peterlawrencethompson October 9, 2018 10:17 AM

    You are wise enough not to desire the ejection seat called “ministry of finance”.

  3. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @A. Dullard
    But isn’t it up to us to build a “real culture of entrepreneurship” rather than sit around bemoaning the fact that history has not bequeathed us the one we wanted??

  4. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @A. Dullard
    One of my favourite passages from Andrea Stuart’s book about her Barbados family history, Sugar in the Blood points out some of our entrepreneurial cultural heritage:

    “Some of the most colorful figures in the capital [Bridgetown] were the female hucksters or vendors. These were slaves who came into town from country plantations like Burkes to sell the produce that they grew in their provision grounds. They were formidable women who often carried their vast trays of produce– corn, tomatoes, okra– on their heads. Their poise amazed visitors to the islands. One Barbadian higgler was seen balancing an entire brood of chickens, with the nest, coop, and all. Their entrepreneurship and aggressive hawking caused authorities profound consternation, since their success often undermined the sales of conventional merchants. As a result the higglers were accused of monopolizing the marketplace, pushing up prices and setting a dangerous example to the other slaves. But authorities were also nervous about banning them altogether, because early attempts to do so had caused intense unrest among the slave population.”
    —
    Andrea Stuart, Sugar in the Blood

    Let’s learn from this. Enslaved people being such good entrepreneurs that they put the fear of ruin into their racist competition. Let’s do that again!

  5. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ PLT at 10 :17 AM

    We are not addressing the”underlying causes” of what ails the Barbados Economy. We are just “rearranging the chairs” and”kicking the can further down the street”.
    In 1st Primer arithmetic if you want to change an improper fraction to proper fraction,the solution is to make the denominator bigger. Where are the measures in BERT for growing GDP. Why is there so much effort expended inadding to the numerator debt that is not earmarked to increasing GDP.

    Why was the short sighted policy of defaulting G o B debt? Is this an indication that in the future there will be no need for GoB borrowing?

    @ Wiley

    Increasing Commercial Banks deposits at the CBB and the required holdings of GoB paper is an attempt to control the expansion of private sector debt. You will have noticed that it was an abysmal failure since credit card uncollateralised debt took up the slack with a vengeance. Is this a source of the falling foreign exchange reserves?

  6. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @Vincent,

    Great observation. Plse remind me again when quantitative easing was part of Barbadian economic policy? This may be the answer to our economic problems.

  7. A. Dullard Avatar
    A. Dullard

    @A. Dullard
    But isn’t it up to us to build a “real culture of entrepreneurship” rather than sit around bemoaning the fact that history has not bequeathed us the one we wanted??
    +++++++++++

    True. No argument with this.

  8. A. Dullard Avatar
    A. Dullard

    @PLT
    “Some of the most colorful figures in the capital [Bridgetown] were the female hucksters or vendors. These were slaves who came into town from country plantations like Burkes to sell the produce that they grew in their provision grounds. They were formidable women who often carried their vast trays of produce– corn, tomatoes, okra– on their heads. Their poise amazed visitors to the islands. One Barbadian higgler was seen balancing an entire brood of chickens, with the nest, coop, and all. Their entrepreneurship and aggressive hawking caused authorities profound consternation, since their success often undermined the sales of conventional merchants. As a result the higglers were accused of monopolizing the marketplace, pushing up prices and setting a dangerous example to the other slaves. But authorities were also nervous about banning them altogether, because early attempts to do so had caused intense unrest among the slave population.”
    +++++++++++

    This is all fine. Lets fast forward to today and keep the analogy going…I want to see some of the higglers move on to owning farms supplying other higglers, producing feed, producing light machinery, exporting products, etc.
    This is where the self-destruct button in embedded within Barbadian supposed policy and business facilitation kicks in. It varies from minor frustrations to outright sabotage.

  9. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ PLT

    Operation successful but patient dead.

  10. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ HA at 11:23 AM

    Creating money and increasing credit may increase nominal demand. It may lead to some real growth in employment and in GDP. On the other hand it may lead to higher prices or in our case increases in imported consumption goods. Please note where local commercial banks are targeting their adverts. Are these goods produced in Barbados?
    Please note also where the monies borrowed from NIS are used ? Do these generate long term growth in employment and GDP?

  11. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ David BU

    The Financial System is evolving . Those charged with managing the system appear to be playing catchup or looking too far ahead. We need to deal with what is before us NOW.” In the future we are all dead”.

    @ Hal

    I do not respond to queries that I know the poser already has an answer. I do not engage in exercises in futility.

  12. Truth will set you Free Avatar
    Truth will set you Free

    Digicel caught involved in major fraud in Guyana since 2010 wondering what they have been doing in Barbados.

    http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2018/10/09/phone-companies-grapple-for-mobile-internet-control/

  13. Truth will set you Free Avatar
    Truth will set you Free

    Happening right now in Guyana

    Deceptive offshore medical schools urged to legitimatise status

    A number of offshore medical schools here in Guyana are coming under the microscope after reports have surfaced that they have been deceptive about their accreditation status. According to reports reaching this publication, although these institutions have been granted approval by the National Accreditation Council of Guyana [NAC], the certificates obtained only qualify students to function right here in Guyana.
    However, reports suggest that some of these institutions have been luring students, mainly from overseas, to their programmes by claiming that they are also accredited by the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions [CAAM-HP].
    CAAM-HP, which was established in 2003, is an accrediting body for medical, veterinary and dental schools for the Caribbean Community [CARICOM] member states.
    Some are of the view that if an institution is accredited by NAC and are listed on its website [http://www.nac.gov.gy/] that they are properly accredited. This publication has however learnt that none of the offshore medical institutions listed on the NAC website are accredited by CAAM-HP.
    Based on credible information that have reached this publication, at least one of the institutions has in recent times applied for accreditation from CAAM-HP but did not qualify. It is a fact, too, that CAAM-HP had cause to ink a “serious” letter to the institution even insisting that it does not attempt to apply for its accreditation until three years would have elapsed and it would have been able to meet all of the necessary accreditation criteria.
    Despite this development, students have yet been lured to the institution which continues to claim that it has been accredited by CAAM-HP and therefore the programmes conducted there are recognised internationally.
    Currently, the only institution that provides tertiary medical education in Guyana which benefits from CAAM-HP accreditation is the University of Guyana [UG] School of Medicine. Achieving accreditation and maintaining that accredited status has not been an easy task even for that institution which has been in existence for a number of years. This is in light of the fact that CAAM-HP conducts regular assessments to ensure that its accredited institutions have certain stipulated measures in place before they are reaccredited.
    UG has on a few occasions lost its accreditation status and has had to work tirelessly to regain same. When asked to comment on the existing state of affairs regarding the offshore medical schools, Dr. Emanuel Cummings, who has been Dean of UG’s Faculty of Health Sciences Education for a number of years, a medical educator for even longer and has been affiliated with CAAM-HP too, advised that every effort be made by the institutions to be accredited.
    “I want all of the offshore medical schools in Guyana to put systems in place to achieve CAAM-HP accreditation,” said Dr. Cummings.
    The daunting development in Guyana comes at a time when a sister CARICOM country is moving to clamp down on offshore medical schools selling themselves in a deceptive manner.
    The Barbados Sun in its October 6, 2018 edition, published an article headlined ‘Problems at Washington University’ which speaks to such deception.
    The article read, “The Chief Executive Officer of the Washington University of Barbados, Gopi Venkat Rao, was taken into police custody yesterday.”
    “Prior to his departure there was a long meeting with Government officials, students and the staff of the institution located at the Casa Grande Hotel at Oldbury, St. Phillips,” the article outlined. It continued by highlighting that “Issues ranged from the legitimacy of the establishment to poor living conditions. After the meeting was adjourned, Rao left the campus escorted by police.”
    According to Dr. Cummings, while offshore schools could significantly benefit a country’s economy, it must be done in a legitimate matter. Such a move is crucial, he noted, if Guyana is to truly reap the benefits that medical education can bring.
    Barbados is said to have seven offshore medical schools and is reportedly quickly becoming a hub for such activities. This development comes on the heels of the island tourism sector which is now redirecting focus to medical tourism.
    “We are sitting on a ‘gold mine’…everybody is thinking about petroleum but medical education is a ‘gold mine’. So it is for us to upgrade the regional hospitals so that the students can do their training there because everybody is going to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation so it is saturated,” said Dr. Cummings.
    The Dean has moreover committed his support, wherever possible, for Guyana to zero-in on this potential boost for the economy. “Once our offshore medical schools are properly accredited, Guyana will become a major destination for medical education…we don’t have to wait on oil, we can start seeing benefits now if we look in this direction,” assured the Health Sciences Dean.

    http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2018/10/09/deceptive-offshore-medical-schools-urged-to-legitimatise-status/

  14. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @Vincent 12.10,

    Your analysis is fine, but creating money and increasing credit is not quantitative easing as currently understood. In fact, quantitative easing would lift the economy, the added liquidity can be drained from the system by putting greater capital adequacy demands on the retail banks, Thereby reducing the threat of asset price inflation.
    At present we have a situation in which nearly Bds$350m are owed on credit cards and one irresponsible bank is offering loans to buy cars; another is advertising on radio suggesting people can borrow money to buy new cars, and again to trade in those one, two and three-old cards. Not a word has been said about either of these by the minister for economic affairs or any of her so-called consultants. In fact, government has just secured an IMF loan to pay off its debt, with a promise of more money from the IADB later in the year. Debt upon debt..
    @Vincent, the economy needs financialisation, not more sovereign borrowing, and the way to do this is by turning the 18 post offices in to post office banks, or setting up a stand-alone bank with a funding of Bds$50m (by the way, to created a bank in the UK cost a minimum of £20m, or Bds$60m).

    As you hinted, no government in Barbados, since the abolition of slavery, has ever had a policy of quantitative easing, but we badly need one. Tell @PLT that is one way of funding the urban regeneration which is badly need to clearly up the City slums.
    Remember Grantley Adams did all this in the 1950s when he built the Pine, Grazettes and Deacons, and not a single member of his Cabinet had a PhD in economics.

  15. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Hal Austin at 12 :43 PM

    Congratulations. I knew you had all the answers to your queries.
    I do not agree with all of your submissions but many of them square with mine.
    Quantitative easing, however you perceive it, is a two edged sword. Some people like to mis- apply a good thing and become addictive.
    It is not the degree in economics that matter. It is the understanding of the subject matter of economics that is relevant. Hence Simple Simon’s insistence on the transcripts.

  16. bajans Avatar
    bajans

    @Vincent, the economy needs financialisation, not more sovereign borrowing, and the way to do this is by turning the 18 post offices in to post office banks, or setting up a stand-alone bank with a funding of Bds$50m (by the way, to created a bank in the UK cost a minimum of £20m, or Bds$60m).

    This is how it was in the day. When I came to Canada all post offices were banks. The only drawback was that you could only keep about $7k there, but in the 60’s, that was a LOT of money.

  17. Dishonest Bajans Avatar
    Dishonest Bajans

    @ Truth

    Alex Tasker a Guyanese and Digicel Barbados CEO is also engaged in Money Laundering and trafficking.

  18. David Avatar
    David

    @Vincent

    Can you spare a moment to explain the benefits QE in a market where the money base has been expanding 7:1 last check?

  19. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ David BU at 2 :49 PM

    I do not understand the question. What do you mean by money base?Which item is 7 and which is 1?

  20. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ David BU

    In anticipation of your clarification
    Quantitative Easing is a device used by the Central Bank to provide enough liquidity in the system to avoid deflation that prevents the economy from growing. An inflation target is set say 4 % per annum in the belief that the economy will in real terms grow by 2 to 3 % per annum. It works best in a relatively closed economy such as USA.
    The mechanism
    Friedman described it as helicopter money back in 1948. To day the deposit accounts of Commercial banks at the Central Bank would be credited with the appropriate amounts. This would allow them to expand credit on the agreed ratio . So in your scenario for evey dollar in notes and coins and deposits at the Central Bank the Banking system will expand credit 7 times. That is the theory .

  21. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @Vincent

    One of the theories.

  22. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Hal Austin at 3 :37 PM

    You obviously understand the ratio David BU posited. Which of your alternative theory answers his question. He is awaiting an answer. It may affect whether I get back my loan to GoB within my life span without a hair cut or worse a decapitation.

  23. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    I won’t dare get between you and David BU over economic theory. Above my pay grade.

  24. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Hal Austin at 3 :49 PM

    You too like to poo-shark.

  25. Wily Coyote Avatar
    Wily Coyote

    I believe what David is saying, Barbados already has a form of QE for the last several years in that GOB has been printing money to the extent it is now up to seven times larger than GDP would suggest.

    The fact what Barbados needs is QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTION, not easing.

  26. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

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                Caroline Binham and Philip Stafford in London and Jim Brunsden in Brussels

                3 hours ago


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        The Bank of England has issued its starkest warning yet that up to £41tn of derivatives contracts maturing after Brexit are at risk unless European officials urgently address regulatory uncertainty.The BoE said on Tuesday that clearing houses would have to tell European members such as banks to move their business or risk falling foul of European law. Ultimately EU banks would bear the cost of the disruption, the BoE warned in its quarterly statement on risks to UK financial stability, citing estimates that suggested every basis point increase in the cost of clearing interest rate swaps could cost EU businesses about €22bn a year. The BoE estimates that EU-based companies have over-the-counter derivatives contracts with a notional value of £69tn at UK clearing houses. An increasing share of that £69tn — at £41tn — would mature after March 2019, when the UK is due to leave the EU.The BoE’s latest call to arms was echoed by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, which lobbies for the derivatives industry. The group called on the EU to prepare new authorisation to come into force the day after Brexit.The warnings come as preparations on both sides of the Channel step up for the possibility of a hard Brexit, where the UK crashes out of the EU with no deal and no transition period. There is increasing concern that a game of brinkmanship is being played on both sides, and as cities such as Frankfurt and Paris vie for a portion of London’s jobs and revenue.Clearing houses must give members three months notice to move their business, which is costly and complicated. This means the commission will have to make an announcement about derivatives before Christmas or clearing houses will have to start giving notice to their members. Moving business would result in banks and other holders of swaps incurring millions of dollars in extra margin payments for their derivatives positions, and in associated capital costs. In some areas, there are few alternative clearing houses in Europe. For Brent futures, none at all. Isda has openly doubted whether it is possible to move business across the board.

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            The BoE has consistently warned over the past year about Brexit posing legal uncertainty to vast amounts of financial contracts, from insurance policies to derivatives.

    But while Brussels has largely challenged its analysis, it has also acknowledged that the market for centrally cleared derivatives is a special case where there is a potential risk to financial stability.
    The commission has yet to reveal the short-term “contingency measures” it has said it would adopt to prevent problems. The problem turns on EU law, which states that members such as banks must use authorised central counterparties to clear derivatives and interest-rate swaps.
    London-based clearing houses’ EU authorisation will lapse after Brexit. A working group of officials from the BoE and the European Central Bank, which is identifying stability threats from a no-deal Brexit, has underlined the disruption that would be caused if EU members of UK-based clearing houses needed to quickly move their business elsewhere.
    Mario Draghi, the ECB’s president, said last month that authorities would need to look at how “contractual positions” in the market for centrally-cleared derivatives would be regulated in the event of a “sudden . . . unprepared, hard Brexit of the sharpest kind”.
    The UK government has said it would authorise European clearing houses, and give temporary permissions that would allow financial companies to continue with their current regulatory authorisations.
    But no parallel announcement has been forthcoming from the EU, and the vast majority of European derivatives business is in London. The ECB estimates 90 per cent of interest-rate swaps coming from the EU goes to the UK.
    While regulatory bodies such as the European Securities and Markets Authority have said they would enter into a series of memoranda of understanding with UK regulators, those have yet to be negotiated while political discussions continue.
    Clearing houses, largely run by exchanges, sit between parties in a deal and manage the impact to the market should one side default.
    London is the heart of the global business. Its three clearing houses — LCH, ICE Clear Europe and LME Clear — process more than $450tn in interest-rate, credit, forex and metals-related swaps from around the world.
    Without access, participants face a hefty rise in trading costs — or an inability to hedge their market exposures.European banks have also started to voice their concerns about potential disruption to derivatives clearing.
    They say that some contracts, such as steel and some types of foreign exchange, cannot easily be moved from London to other parts of the EU because of licensing issues.
    The City of London Corporation welcomed the BoE’s statement, and said it was “pressing” for the EU to take action to prevent cross-border financial services being disrupted in the event of a no-deal Brexit.“Financial stability should not be jeopardised in a game of high-stakes political poker,” said Catherine McGuinness, policy chair of the corporation.
    “Both sides should urgently work together to address cliff-edge issues such as contract continuity and data transfers that could prevent the industry from servicing their clients.”(Quote)

  27. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Wiley Coyote at 3:59 PM

    That is a third guess. Thanks for the suggestion. I will await David’s clarification on the question he really wants to ask.
    Remember the issue under discussion is the Debt over – hang.
    I notice in a submission above the issue of financialisation of the economy.
    The rapid expansion of Credit card debts. I wonder how much of this is past due.

    Please note that I have never supported the printing of money ,how ever defined.

  28. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    @Tron October 9, 2018 2:08 AM “And what about telling Barbadians to sell their many SUV´s and villas?”

    So I’ve already done that.

    What else should I do now?

  29. Fractured BLP Avatar
    Fractured BLP

    Lorenzo

    Tron

    Enuff

    And other BLP apologists who peddle their PALAVER on this BU site know full well THAT:

    Barbadians have been savaged by the Mia Mottley led administration !

    Imagined the IMF is stating that Barbados 🇧🇧 is in for a long hard road to possibly no where !!

    All because :

    • Debt DEFAULT !

    • Lies about new SSA trucks in 3 months ( 5 months later not a DAMN new truck) – but there is an imposition of GARBAGE tax !

    • Robbing poor/ vulnerable pensioners – through pension cuts – Called a DECAPITATION by Alfred Brandford !

    • Robbing MOST public officers by giving them $ 90.00 in salary increases – but tekking back $ 125.00 in new taxes since 1 July , 2018 !

    BLP – Beating Lowly Pensioners / Persons…. BLP !!

    Barbados’ worst GOVERNMENT……ever !!!

  30. Fractured BLP Avatar
    Fractured BLP

    Albert Brandford – Sunday Sun October 8, 2018

  31. Fractured BLP Avatar
    Fractured BLP

    Better yet !!

    BLP – Brutalising Lowly Pensioners / Persons = BLP !!

  32. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    You forgot your IMF chant.

  33. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    @peterlawrencethompson October 9, 2018 11:16 AM “Andrea Stuart’s book about her Barbados family history, Sugar in the Blood points out some of our entrepreneurial cultural heritage:

    “Some of the most colorful figures in the capital [Bridgetown] were the female hucksters or vendors. These were slaves who came into town from country plantations like Burkes to sell the produce that they grew in their provision grounds. They were formidable women who often carried their vast trays of produce– corn, tomatoes, okra– on their heads.”

    Sold some okra on Monday, will do so again on Wednesday and Friday.

    I see the current situation as an OPPORTUNITY to increase my production and my sales. If people can’t afford to buy imported food, perhaps they will buy mine?

    Simple Simon
    Country female huckster

  34. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    @Fractured BLP October 9, 20186:25 PM

    Can you explain in real, real simple language, so that even iIcan understand, why the DLP government borrowed the pensioner’s money, when they knew, or ought reasonably to have known that there was no way the government could afford to pay back the money, and that furthermore the people were sick and tired of the DLP government and could not wait to throw them out of office.

    Thanks and sincerely

    Simple Simon

    Neither “B’ nor “D”

  35. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    This country cannot withstand five more years of austerity measures
    With an ageing population and unemployment most likely to increase
    Where and how does govt propose to get additional funding to keep social services up and running and to continue free education
    The long and short suggest that our population is not large enough to burden the few who are already pushed to the limit with high taxes
    The long and short also suggest that now with investors confidence in the toilet govt would find it very hard to renew any form of confidence which can create growth for the country

    Btw it seems like Jeremy Stephen open his mouth and the truth once again fell out
    However Mascoll took out his dagger and tried to slash Stephen to pieces

  36. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    David BU wuh happen 🐱 got uh 😝 all them great things dat were supposed to occur when govt change seems to have put you in a sleeper hold
    I heard Mascoll has been sent to chop Jeremy into itsy bittys pieces
    30- 0 win for the blp has turned out to be a nightmare

  37. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    It is quite possible that Mia is not as bad as we are perceiving her to be or that the DLP was not as incompetent as we thought they were.

    Perhaps, much of the problem came from the fact that we have very little to work with. Limited in size, population, resources, industry, exports Add to this a high degree of corruption and leaders with very little vision and we can see that failure is inevitable.

  38. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Theogazerts at 8:08 PM

    There is nothing inevitable about failure. If you fail to prepare; be prepared to fail. Constant vigilance is necessary. Barbados did not reach this state over night.Persons came into the Barbados society to take not to contribute. This sense of entitlement with out contributing is Karma at work.By the sweat of thy brow thou shall eat.

  39. Truth will set you Free Avatar
    Truth will set you Free

    @ Theo
    Perhaps, much of the problem came from the fact that we have very little to work with. Limited in size, population, resources, industry, exports Add to this a high degree of corruption and leaders with very little vision and we can see that failure is inevitable
    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    Very very accurate.

    Added to this Lorenzo, Enuff, Prodigal, Mariposa, Fractured BLP, Gabriel etc sticking to a one party line.

    Both Political parties are rife with endemic corruption which is why Barbados is on it’s knees.

    Events which started many years ago with the thieving by Politicians of both parties has increased as the GDP has grown.

    This has been made easier as no one has ever been prosecuted locally for it.

  40. WARU Avatar
    WARU

    Too much corruption, too many thieving government ministers, CORRUPTION is all they know, how to rip off the VULNERABLE, TRUSTING, UNAWARE population is all they know, this other half of the duopoly of stupid limited vision governments can see no other way, that is all the crooks in the Bar Association and the Supreme Court will ever know.
    …that is all they want to know..

    Do not look for any geniuses coming out of the parliament…there are none, not in this government.

    https://www.facebook.com/jackie.stewart.965/videos/895014507374756/?t=1532

  41. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    BERT please call ERNIE!

    ” Government has racked up about $74 million in arrears to foreign commercial creditors.

    That’s based on new information released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It said the amount was accumulated

    between June 1, when Government suspended debt payments to these entities, and the end of last month.”

  42. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @plt
    You must have spent nuff years in Canada, for your initial proposed solution is the typical Canadian play. Sign a trade agreement, and whomever gets affected the most or keeps the most noise, immediately promise compensation.

    @VC
    “If you fail to prepare, be prepared to fail….Barbados did not reach this state over night”.
    Excellent advice and observation.
    I recall vividly after the 2013 election, once it became clear the financial country managers were ‘doubling down’ on already failing policies, and I posed the question to some of “what are you going to do” and after hemming and hawing and a little feather fluffing responded meekly “wha ya want me to do?”.
    You keep using debt overhang, which I more associate with private sector operations, where they have profit centres, whereby the current massive debt load prohibits additional borrowing, which could be used to generate profit to repay the debt owing.
    The public sector is generally void of such profit centres. BNTCL, Airport, Port etc qualify if run like for-profit outfits.
    Meanwhile you have persons, small and large businesses, who made the decision to invest in GoB paper, with the current consequences. (Failure to prepare? Or just ignoring a red light)
    So I ask, what are people going to DO about it?

  43. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    @Northern
    Sign a trade agreement, and whomever gets affected the most or keeps the most noise, immediately promise compensation.

    +++++++++++++
    Are you speaking of the recently concluded Trade agreement? Dougie F said at the 100 day celebration that the Justin threw the dairy farmers and the steel manufacturers under the bus so he will go after them for compensation.

  44. Vapidora Allman Avatar
    Vapidora Allman

    @WC: choice between 1) take an interest haircut and 2) devalue the Bds dollar and then recoup less than principal over the next 15 years. It is illogical to state that any entity will choose 2). So if a devaluation is imminent it would not be from the local bond swaps. Please explain how this can be incorrect

  45. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ TheOGazerts
    Perhaps, much of the problem came from the fact that we have very little to work with. Limited in size, population, resources, industry, exports Add to this a high degree of corruption and leaders with very little vision and we can see that failure is inevitable.
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    This is NOT the problem.
    While we obviously have fewer resources due to small size, we ALSO have correspondingly fewer NEEDS and challenges.

    For example, while it is almost impossible for an Atlantic hurricane to miss the USA, it has been VERY difficult for said storms to hit the Bajan bulls eye….

    Our problem is that we have NO RESPECT for the talents that we DO have…. in many cases above the global average per capita.

    Instead of looking for PROVEN talents to provide leadership, (people with a life HISTORY of leadership achievements) we opt for shiite lawyers who have NEVER accomplished a single good shiite in their lives…. or for family, friends and political lackies like chicken feed men to run complex operations.

    Instead of consulting with local experts who have LIVED the experience and have succeeded in small things… we opt for FOREIGN experts who know NOTHING of local challenges; who care NOTHING about our long-term outcomes; and whose antecedents are unknown to us…. (like the Washington University Boss)

    We ARE brass bowls … pure and simple.
    THAT, TheO, …..is the problem.

  46. Northern Observer Avatar
    Northern Observer

    @sarge
    The whole lot…u can find any number examples. I don’t listen to Duggie, the Fed Minister announced comp the day after the deal (read the day of Que provincial election)

    Off the news wire, Sir Kyff has sold SOL (large majority or maybe just his ownership) to Parkland Fuel, traded on TSX.

  47. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    Reported price for SOL…Cdn$1.57 Billion. Given this number, Simpsons overall holdings are larger than the GoB, and people ask about Bajan businessmen?

  48. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Parkland Fuel to buy 75% stake in Caribbean fuel marketer SOL Investments for $1.57 billion
    The deal gives Parkland access to 526 retail gas stations

    https://business.financialpost.com/commodities/energy/parkland-fuel-to-buy-75-pct-in-fuel-marketer-sol-investments-for-c1-57-bln

  49. FearPlay Avatar
    FearPlay

    SOL? Is this the same SOL that wanted to own the whole lock, stock and barrel of oil rights and distribution in Barbados? Now selling to a foreign entity? Was the proposed take over by SOL not to be in the best interest of Barbados? RUBiS must now be feeling justified in their opposition to the attempted monopoly.

    By the way, when are we going to discuss what is taking place with the University of Washington in Barbados, the sullying of our good name (again) and the ex Minister’s refusal to offer any explanation (nothing new). Should we now be doing a forensic investigation of any other universities(?) signed off by this ex minister and if any promises/gifts were exchanged to influence the decision?

  50. pieceuhderockyeahright Avatar
    pieceuhderockyeahright

    @ FearPlay

    The answer you are seeking as it relates to the details of the Washington University Barbados matter WILL NOT COME FROM ANY BARBADOS AUTHORITIES

    You will have to read about those details in an Indian Newspaper or United States real newspaper and not in our pretend reporting media.

    The Attorney General or our Commissioner of Police would not have any details on the matter.

    The first because he is a smiley teets idiot and the second because him commenting would cast a veil over the DLP administration that appointed him. AND WE CANT HAVE THAT CAN WE?

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