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IMF Gives Green Light to BERT BUT…

The blogmaster must be honest and admit that the reform and structural changes required to transform the Barbados economy and society will have its negative impact. No austerity program can be rolled out without negatively affecting people. Unless one is rabidly partisan or dishonest it is obvious the work rate of the BLP government is much higher than that of the Stuart led government.  The IMF has given the thumbs up to targets met under the BERT plan. We look forward to the plans to encourage investment to fuel growth.

What the blogmaster will not ignore are decisions that expose the government as engaging in more of the same. A comment posted on another blog by SSS sums it up beautifully.

We know the IMF calling the shots. I have no problem with her BERT plan or the fact that restructuring is necessary. I got a serious issue with her laying off people, and hiring her people; ensuring that her father gets a special gift from her in the form of a Knighthood so he can strut his stuff through immigration officials without check because he is no longer to function as an ordinary citizen;how she did not do enough to ensure the layoff process was fair; how she proposing wire tapping and ensuring that another one of her loyals, Dottin, is not too far from her side when she brings it into fruition. I got a serious problem with the transparency she has shown in writing off tax defaulters millions owed. I want her to publish the names because if you forgiving them and they already sleeping better, you should not have a problem publish names of those who benefited under her tax amnesty – Sunshine Sunny Sunshine (SSS)

IMF Staff Concludes Visit to Barbados

February 12, 2019

End-of-Mission press releases include statements of IMF staff teams that convey preliminary findings after a visit to a country. The views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. This mission will not result in a Board meeting.
  • Barbados continues to make good progress in implementing its ambitious and comprehensive economic reform program.
  • All indicative targets for end-December under the EFF have been met.
  • Two key pieces of legislation—the Public Financial Management Act, and the Town and Country Planning Act—were adopted in early 2019.

At the request of the Government of Barbados, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by Bert van Selm visited Bridgetown from February 5–8, to discuss implementation of Barbados’ Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) plan, supported by the IMF under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). A concluding meeting was held with Prime Minister Mottley in Washington D.C on February 11, 2019. To summarize the mission’s findings, Mr. van Selm made the following statement:

 

“Barbados continues to make good progress in implementing its ambitious and comprehensive economic reform program.

“All indicative targets for end-December under the EFF have been met. The program target for Net International Reserves was met by a wide margin, as was the target for the Central Bank of Barbados’ Net Domestic Assets (NDA). The target for the primary surplus for end-December 2018 was also met by a wide margin.

“Good progress has been made in implementing end-December 2018 structural benchmarks under the EFF. Two key pieces of legislation—the Public Financial Management Act, and the Town and Country Planning Act—were adopted in early 2019.

“Preparation of the budget for FY2019/20 targeting a primary surplus of 6 percent of GDP is well underway. Full year effects of reforms set in motion during the current (2018/19) fiscal year, including the introduction of several new taxes and ongoing streamlining of public sector work force at state-owned enterprises, should help achieve this target. A detailed assessment of the budget will be made when it is finalized.

“Progress being made by the authorities in furthering good-faith discussions with external creditors is welcome. Continuing open dialogue and sharing of information will remain important in concluding an orderly debt restructuring process.

“The team is looking forward to return to Barbados in May to conduct the discussions for the first review under the EFF and would like to thank the authorities and the technical team for their openness and candid discussions.”

IMF Communications Department
MEDIA RELATIONS

PRESS OFFICER: Randa Elnagar

Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

277 responses to “IMF Gives Green Light to BERT BUT…”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    Good article.

  2. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Is this biting the hand that feeds you, or simply being ungrateful or is it desperation? Or is it blaming others for your own incompetence?

    Prime Minister Mia Mottley has taken multilateral lenders like the World Bank to task for not doing more to help vulnerable countries like Barbados and the Caribbean’s small island and coastal states prepare for climate change.
    At a panel discussion here on Friday, Mottley argued that the international financial institutions had unfairly categorised some developing countries, shutting them out from accessing concessionary funding for critical projects to aid in their development and protection of the population.
    But the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance used the forum to deliver a broadside against rich nations which have been pressuring hers as they compete for international financial services and business domiciles with low corporate taxes.
    The discussion took place alongside the annual IMF/World Bank Spring meetings the Prime Minister is attending.
    Since the 1990’s the World Bank has considered Barbados a middle-income country, limiting it from accessing concessionary loans.
    She told the audience: “The rules are such that we are precluded from benefiting from concessional funding to fight the vagaries of climate change, to fight the vagaries of alleviating poverty at the very time when you need it more, at the very time when your vulnerability is greater than almost anyone else.
    “Not because of actions you have taken but actions that developed countries and large corporations have taken to increase the likelihood that climate change will have deleterious consequences on your people.”
    Insisting that the World Bank and other multilateral organisations were ignoring the “the reality of small states”, Mottley said they had come up with “a one size fits all approach that bears no relation to risks”.
    The Prime Minister said she feared that Barbados could become a low-income country should it be hit by a natural disaster, though pointing out that the country still had access to funding from the Caribbean Development Bank and the CAF for climate change-related projects.
    She said it was for that reason she is embarking on a planned “roofs to reefs” project, in order to help the country be better able to cope with the effects of natural disasters.
    But she said Barbados needs huge funding for improving its sewerage systems, putting overhead cables underground and for replacement of the piping system for water, among others.
    She said: “If you don’t have access to borrowing to redo some of these large infrastructural things, many of which are related to climate change, you are going to pauperise what was otherwise a middle-income nation.”
    Declaring that she was not advocating a revolution, Mottley predicted that populations around the world would one day rise up and put pressure on their Governments in relation to tackling issues of climate change.
    She also blasted developed countries and groupings for creating various “blacklists and whitelists”, saying it was offensive since the countries being placed on those lists did not have the luxury of considering what was “right or wrong or moral or not”.
    The comments come in the wake of declarations by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Paris-based club of industrialised nations, that Barbados is an uncooperative tax haven.
    Adding that “multilateralism for us is not a luxury, it is a necessity”, Mottley said some groups were doing nothing short of bullying smaller developing nations.
    She said those smaller states were considered “invisible” and “dispensable” by more developed nations and multilateral organisations, adding that the rules based systems fought for over the years now seemed to be at risk.(Quote)

  3. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Below is a good example of the DLP failing to learn anything from the drubbing it got in May of last year. Instead of going back to basics and re-learning how to govern, the new leader is coming out with the same, old, tired rhetoric that means nothing.
    First , she must surround herself with a team of young, dynamic spokespeople (learn from the UPP), all with specialist areas of responsibility. Not only will this show the nation that they have a Shadow Cabinet prepared to take over at short notice, but that the mistakes of the Stuart/Sinckler government will not be repeated.
    The leader must also show they understand the issues facing the nation, not with sound bites for an unappreciative press, but in an ongoing conversation with the nation. In short the leader must show that the party has turned a new page. So far they score a three out of ten.

    The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) still isn’t the least bit impressed with BERT (Barbados Economic Transformation Programme).
    President of the party, attorney-at-law Verla De Peiza, says Government’s programme to stabilise Barbados’ economy isn’t working and even international agencies can see it too, based on recent negative assessments within the last eight months.
    She is also calling on the Prime Minister to let the country know what’s next now that Government has missed a very important debt payment deadline.
    “Besides missing crucial payments Barbados has now missed the March 31 deadline to complete the negotiations with our external creditors. We call on the Government, as a matter of urgency to give a progress report on the negotiations and to let the country know what fallout to expect from these failures,” De Peiza demanded. (Quote)

  4. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    President Donald Trump’s administration is confronting an inescapable economic paradox and it was on full display at the past week’s gathering of international finance chiefs in Washington.

    Even as it urges the rest of the world to do more to boost global growth, the U.S. is doubling down on the “America First’’ trade policies that have become a major drag on demand. For many at the International Monetary Fund spring meetings, those opposing forces highlight Trump’s disruptive presence in the world economy, his desire to blame others for forces he unleashes, and how his propensity for shaking things up gets in the way of some of his own priorities.

    The paradox was laid out in Saturday’s communique from the IMF’s governing body with shareholders nominating “trade tensions” as the top risk for the global economy. While the finance ministers and central bank governors from around the world who make up the body declared they would step in as needed to address any turn for the worse in the global economy they also endorsed “free, fair, and mutually beneficial goods and services trade and investment” as “key engines for growth and job creation.”

    “To this end, we recognize the need to resolve trade tensions,” they said.
    Those tensions have had a primary source over the past year: Tariffs introduced by the U.S. that have yielded a tit-for-tat response from trading partners from China to the EU.
    Lowest Since the Financial Crisis
    The IMF cut its outlook for 2019 global growth to 3.3 percent

    Source: International Monetary Fund

    Steven Mnuchin, Trump’s Treasury secretary, used his statement to the IMF’s council to call on major economies now slowing in Europe and China to do more to bolster growth.

    The U.S., he went on, was doing its part via “its efforts to address restrictive trade practices around the world that are impeding stronger and more balanced U.S. and global growth.’’

    Mnuchin, however, may have been the only policy maker attending last week’s meetings who believes the U.S.’s approach to trade is doing anything to help growth, or that Trump’s tariffs are a tool of trade liberalization.
    The growing uncertainty and slowdowns in investment and global trade that have resulted from Trump’s trade wars were major reasons behind the IMF’s decision to predict the world economy will grow this year at its slowest rate since the global financial crisis a decade ago.
    To Maurice Obstfeld, who retired as the IMF’s chief economist last year, the link between a softer global expansion and Trump’s trade policies has been clear.
    “If you look at the global weakness that we are seeing it is very much centered in manufacturing, industrial output weakness, investment weakness. And if you contrast that with fairly strong labor markets around the world and much better performance in services it’s hard not to believe that the trade tensions are playing a role in all that,’’ Obstfeld said in an interview.
    ‘Stirring the Pot’
    That Trump in recent days has continued “stirring the pot’’ by threatening new tariffs on the European Union and Mexico has only served as a reminder that even if the administration reaches a deal with China in the weeks to come the president’s trade wars are far from over, Obstfeld said.
    The administration’s finger pointing at other major economies is also a hint that going into the 2020 election Trump is lining up scapegoats — from abroad or at the U.S. Federal Reserve — in case the U.S. economy comes down hard from last year’s fiscal sugar rush.
    What happens elsewhere in the world economy may matter more for the U.S. than ever before. A February study by economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimated a one percentage point decline in growth outside of the U.S. reduces America’s expansion by an average of 0.5 point.

    Economic policy makers from outside the U.S. were not afraid to call out the Trump administration and its trade policies over the past week.
    Don’t Help
    “Protectionist moves don’t help either the U.S. or China,’’ Haruhiko Kuroda, governor of the Bank of Japan, told reporters.

    At an event on the sidelines of the IMF meeting on Thursday, Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, bemoaned the fact that a global economy that just a year ago was in the midst of an upswing driven by robust trade and investment now appeared uncomfortably reliant on consumer spending as a result of the trade tensions.
    “And normally when an expansion is reliant on the consumer you start watching the clock in terms of how much longer it will last,’’ he said.
    While Mnuchin prods other countries do more to boost growth, the reality is that in places like the EU — which Trump last week threatened to hit with new tariffs and called a “brutal trading partner’’ — the easiest way to boost growth may be to simply remove the uncertainty caused by Trump’s trade bombast.
    Significant Drag
    The threat alone of increased trade barriers whether it be within Europe due to Brexit or across the Atlantic, was a significant drag on the euro-area economy, said Francois Villeroy de Galhau, a member of the European Central Bank’s governing council.
    “It’s up to political leaders to lift now these geopolitical uncertainties introduced by trade tensions,’’ he said.
    There were some optimists in Washington last week.

    The world is confronting a manageable “moderation’’ in growth, even in Europe, said Angel Ubide, head of economic research for global fixed income at Citadel. “The conditions are in place for growth to continue at a decent pace,’’ he said.
    The “mood of worry’’ in the air as the IMF downgraded its growth forecasts also seemed overblown, Robin Brooks, chief economist of the Institute of International Finance, told an event organized by the group.

    A newly dovish Fed and signs the U.S. and China might soon reach a trade deal should be reasons for hope. “I’m kind of surprised how bearish people are,’’ Brooks said.

  5. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Another example of punching above our weight. Has this been thought through. Foreign direct investors want transparency, clarity, a legal system that works, and speed of execution, none of which exists in contemporary Barbados. Is she also taking advice and ideas from the leading accountancy firms, those that are up to their necks in scandals over auditing? When not separate out accountancy from auditing?

    Barbados is positioning itself to be a global hub for the conduct of commerce, says Prime Minister Mia Mottley.
    In an update on her recent trip to Canada and the United States where she met with key players in the commercial sector, Mottley said they attended meetings in Montreal, Toronto, Washington and Miami.
    Speaking at a media briefing at Government Headquarters on Thursday, the Prime Minister said that in Canada they met with all the major accounting firms, tax executives, and banking officials associated with Canadian banks here and insurance executives.
    Mottley explained that discussions were held with the accounting firms and tax executives to inform them about changes to legislation governing the international business sector last December. (Quote)

  6. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    For months Beto Marron faced a terrible dilemma: he could pay his rent and rapidly rising utility bills, or he could put enough food on the table for his family of four. He could not afford to do both. The decision was made for him when he was kicked out of his home on the outskirts of Buenos Aires late last year, forcing his family on to the streets. “This is sucking the life out of me. When will this nightmare end?” asked the 37-year-old as he rummaged through an overflowing dustbin in a middle-class district of Argentina’s capital. The same question may haunt President Mauricio Macri, as well as the IMF, which continues to voice its full-throated support for him after its record-breaking $56.3bn Argentine bailout in the thick of a currency crisis last year. Since then, an abrupt jump in inflation has unleashed an alarming rise in poverty that is far greater than officials and markets had expected. This is threatening the re-election prospects of Mr Macri, who once perkily assured voters on the campaign trail that extinguishing inflation would be “easy”. It is also raising questions about the IMF’s innovative austerity programme in Argentina, which has put unprecedented emphasis on “protecting society’s most vulnerable”, and what it could mean for future programmes in other struggling emerging markets such as Ecuador.

    “We’re very conscious, and so are the [Argentine] authorities, that an increase in poverty would pose serious challenges to achieving the objectives of the programme,” says Nigel Chalk, deputy director of the IMF’s western hemisphere department. Inflation, now running at more than 50 per cent annually, played a key role in pushing the poverty level up to 32 per cent of the population by the end of 2018. That is about the same level as when Mr Macri took power in 2015. Although it had fallen to 25.7 per cent by mid-2017, it shot up again last year thanks to the currency crisis. In response this month, the government expanded a controversial programme of price controls to 60 “essential” goods, mostly food, in order to soften the impact of price rises for consumers.The IMF’s programme in Argentina is its first to explicitly include measures that provide a buffer for social spending by allowing the country to exceed the fiscal deficit targets agreed with the fund in order to spend more on social assistance. Indeed, the IMF’s third review of its programme with Argentina published on Friday confirmed that more of these measures will be included, while the cap on social spending will be increased from 0.2 to 0.3 per cent of gross domestic product. But spiralling poverty could yet prompt what Mr Chalk calls “a recalibration of social spending to provide more space for the government to act to protect the poor.”

    The risk, officials recognise, is that if the government fails to cut the deficit enough because of extra social spending, markets could grow anxious that Argentina’s fiscal adjustment is not happening as fast as it believes is necessary. That could force Argentina to seek more foreign debt to cover the fiscal deficit than originally expected — to a point where its debt burden could become unsustainable. “So far, markets have been fairly forgiving [since the peso crisis last year]. They understand the trade-offs. It would be tragic — and more than a little ironic — if Cristina made a comeback because the market was demanding too harsh an adjustment,” says one investor, referring to former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. It may not be all bad. Despite concerns about what would happen with the IMF programme in the event of a victory for Ms Fernández, who is widely expected to run in the elections, her radical former economy minister Axel Kicillof has met secretly with IMF officials recently and assured them that a Fernández government would continue with the programme. Such concerns are far from the minds of many Argentines, given that they are living in the second-most miserable country in the world, according to Steve Hanke, an economist at the Johns Hopkins University who publishes an annual “misery index”, which measures unemployment, inflation and interest rates. Argentina’s poor performance in the ranking of 95 countries, which is only topped by crisis-wracked Venezuela, is a direct result of the inflation caused by last year’s currency crisis, said Mr Hanke. In their defence, officials point out that poverty statistics do not reflect qualitative advances such as improving access to jobs by making social programmes more efficient; new drains for 2.5m people; more schools for children; paving roads in slums; lower homicide rates; and fighting against drug-trafficking. “Sure, the government has done a few things that it maybe doesn’t get enough credit for,” admits Paz Marcano, who cooks at an overcrowded soup kitchen in Buenos Aires. “But when you can’t afford to feed your own children properly, you could be forgiven for forgetting.”

  7. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Clifton Hall, St John man is fed up of asking for help with fixing his one bedroom wooden structure which is in dire need of repair.
    The St John resident is asking for help to restore his Clifton Hall home which is falling to pieces.
    Seventy-nine-year-old Percy Howell told Barbados TODAY that he has depended on promises from Members of Parliament and has still not received the help he so desperately needs.(Quote)

    Is there a social element to BERT? Do we have social workers? What about the constituency member of parliament? Does middle class Barbados care? Is Barbados a failed state?

  8. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    SINGAPORE — ASEAN and its East Asian partners are considering adding the yen and the yuan to their $240 billion currency swap safety net, a move that would reduce the framework’s overreliance on the dollar while increasing China’s economic clout.(Quote)

  9. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Galaxy Digital Holding Ltd., billionaire Michael Novogratz’s crypto investment firm, lost $272.7 million during its first year of operations as prices of digital assets collapsed.
    Galaxy had $249.1 million in digital assets and investments as of Dec. 31, down from $323 million at the end of September, the New York-based company said in a statement Monday. The fourth-quarter decrease was primarily a result of $48.7 million of net realized losses on digital assets and $25.0 million of unrealized loss on investments.(quote)

  10. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    The Central Bank of Barbados must operate as an independent institution working in the best interest of the people, Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn declared in Parliament today.(Quote)

    Very good idea. Let us see how this plays out. Presumably Straughn has made, or will make, this recommendation to Cabinet. Let us see if it gets through.

  11. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    I repeat, decouple from the Greenback and fix against a basket of currencies and commodities.

    ASEAN members plus China, Japan and South Korea are considering adding the yuan and yen to their multilateral currency swap deal as they seek to alleviate the framework’s reliance on the dollar.
    Finance ministers and central bank governors from the countries agreed Thursday to strengthen the framework amid growing concerns about emerging economies awash in speculative money due to accommodative policies around the world. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations and trio are together known as ASEAN+3.
    Local-currency contributions to the deal “may be one enhancement option,” the countries said in a joint statement, paving the way for the potential addition of the Chinese yuan and the Japanese yen.

    It is important that countries receiving support be able to choose the currency they want, Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso told a news conference.
    China has been active in lobbying for greater international use of the yuan. Introducing local currencies spreads out the risk of relying on one currency, People’s Bank of China Deputy Gov. Chen Yulu said.
    Southeast Asia also shares the desire to reduce foreign exchange risks with the dollar and promote local currencies. ASEAN chair Thailand and Indonesia, which views itself as a major regional player, have promoted the use of Asian currencies along with China.
    The Chiang Mai Initiative was established in 2000 following the Asian financial crisis of 1997 to prop up weakening currencies by letting countries exchange local money for the greenback to prevent capital flight. The framework’s safety net was doubled to $240 billion in 2014.
    Although a swap has never been activated, “it is crucial that the initiative function as insurance,” a Japanese government source said. When Thailand’s currency collapsed in 1997, Singapore and Malaysia also intervened, but the Thai government could not protect the baht after exhausting its foreign reserves.
    “The yen will definitely be adopted before the yuan should Asian currencies be added to the Chiang Mai Initiative,” a Japanese government source said, because it is an easier currency to swap. China will face the dilemma of liberalizing its foreign exchange market should it aim for the yuan’s adoption.
    The countries will also revamp contracts, currently limited to two one-year renewals, in scrapping the three-year maximum on swaps.
    “We reaffirm our commitment to uphold the rules-based multilateral trading system and open regionalism, while resisting all forms of protectionism,” Thursday’s joint statement also said. The statement from December’s Group of 20 summit, which U.S. President Donald Trump attended, did not take such a stand against protectionism.(Quote)

  12. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Sandals Resorts ‘operated decades-long tax fraud by charging guests 12% rates but pocketed the cash in secret deal with local Caribbean governments,’ class action lawsuit claims
    Sandals Resorts has been hit with a class action lawsuit in Florida on Tuesday over an alleged tax fraud scheme run at its Caribbean resorts
    The company is accused of charging guests 12% tax rates but instead of handing over the money, the funds are ‘secretly retained by Sandals for its own profit’
    Plantiff Vitali Feldman stayed at a Sandals Resorts in 2017, 2018 and 2019, along with his wife and two children and claims he fell victim to the alleged scheme
    His lawyers claim customers were ‘deceived into paying such tax that was, in fact, being secretly retained by Defendants for their own use, benefit and profit’
    Lawyers claim Sandals Resorts settled with the government of Antigua and Barbuda over unpaid sales tax totaling $37.5M, and paid only 37 cents
    The class action lawsuit is seeking at least $5 million
    Sandals Resorts denied the allegations saying: ‘Our valued guests have never been unlawfully charged for taxes and allegations to the contrary are false’ (Quote)

  13. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    The prime minister has said she is willing to offer external creditors a ‘sweetener’ in order to settle. In plain English this means the White Oaks talks are not going well. Watch this space.

  14. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    What about White Oaks? Or have we forgotten? The longer White Oaks draws out this negotiation the more they earn. This is a perverse agreement.

  15. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley last night rolled out the initial plans for a new-look City, saying revitalising the capital would be the first and most important thing on her agenda now that the economy had been stabilised.
    In addition, she revealed Government would soon be seeking over 300 acres of land specifically to provide 3 000 housing solutions, mostly for Barbadians earning less than $4 000 monthly and working in the public service.
    Mottley said that within the next seven years, a total of $3 billion would be pumped into a special Carlisle Bay project with hotels to be constructed between Batts Rock, St Michael and the Savannah Hotel in Hastings, Christ Church. (Quote)

    Is this the extent of the government new urban regeneration plans (as one insider hinted a few days ago)? A seven-year Bds$3bn development. We have already heard about the plan for a hotel corridor from Hastings to Batts Rock. We want to see the blueprint, the plans in full and not just lots of words.
    We also note that there will be 300 acre social housing mainly for public sector workers alone; what about poor people working in the private sector, or not working at all?

  16. David Avatar
    David

    You want to see blueprints after 1 year in office?

  17. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ David June 3, 2019 10:33 AM

    Your “friend” Hal is right on the ‘Money’ this occasion.

    Where are the “blueprints” and who would be funding these grandiose plans?

    How can a government deliberately ‘destroy’ Bridgetown and then expect to resuscitate it without the oxygen of economic activity?

    What is being spun here has been in the PR pipeline for years; from the Bay Street renovations to the Pierhead marina to the Cats Castle housing upgrade of a catspraddle to the Sugar Point Cruise Ship terminal down old Trevor’s Way.

    Just a lot of political bullshit and empty rhetorical promises of the NATO variety.

    Until the sources of financing for these projects, especially the Hyatt Cinderella, are revealed in light of BERT, then only fools and horses will be drinking from that fountain of make-believe offering promises of comfort.

  18. David Avatar
    David

    @Miller

    The question is repeated, how is it possible to produce blueprints in 1 year?

    If they are promises we will find out soon enough.

  19. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Here is some more PR. Talks are continuing, but the propagandist in chief is claiming White Oaks has saved Barbados. At US$85000 a month what a surprise.
    Who did the due diligence on White Oaks?

    Controversial debt restructuring firm, White Oak Consultancy, has saved hundreds of public sector jobs and if it had been hired by the previous government, could have saved Barbadians a tremendous amount of pain.
    During Sunday’s Barbados Labour Party’s (BLP) mass meeting in its Carlisle Car Park stomping ground, Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Attorney General Dale Marshall lashed out at critics of the administration’s economic decisions.
    Prime Minister Mottley argued White Oak Consultancy has been playing a major role in preventing many more layoffs than actually occurred under the Barbados’ Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme and was critical in stabilizing the economy.
    “In 1991 to 1994, we had a problem with our foreign reserves but today we have a problem with our reserves and with our debt. In 1991 to 1994, you [Erskine Sandiford-led DLP government] sent home 4000 and cut salaries by eight per cent. In 2014, when we met here, the Dems had already sent home 3000. Your Government has said no, we are not putting workers on the frontline of change in this country and we would ask the people who were making profits in the banks to bear the burden. That is what White Oak has helped us to negotiate,” said Mottley.
    The PM also defended the controversial US$27 million in fees, which became a major talking point particularly following an article released last month by the London-based Financial Times newspaper. Instead, she argued Government had gotten a good bargain.
    “Not only did White Oak not get paid a lot of money, but we told them they couldn’t get the money all at once and we spread it across four years and by the time we told them, to help to restructure the arrears,” said the PM, as she took aim at critics.
    “What is sad, is that you are trying to titillate people with the numbers without telling people that they [White Oak] have served this country and allowed us to move forward,” she said, adding that the Government had been and would continue to be transparent in the debt restructuring process.
    “When a party wins 74 per cent, every single seat, it has a duty to act responsibly and a duty to treat to things and people differently,” she admitted.
    Meanwhile, in an extended attack, Attorney General, Dale Marshall accused the previous administration of neglecting to hire the company nearly 10 years ago in 2011 when White Oak introduced itself to the then DLP administration.
    According to Marshall, White Oak penned a letter indicating it had been closely monitoring Barbados’ troubling debt situation and was willing to assist with managing the worsening situation.
    He said letters were also written to government in 2014 and 2017 to the then Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and Sinckler respectively, but both were ignored.
    “A stitch in time saves nine. White Oak came in and assisted this Barbados Labor Party administration and saved us a billion dollars a year in interest payments. Had Chris Sinckler had the common sense or common decency to listen to White Oak in 2011, you would have buses on your roads and you would have good roads for them to drive on,” he told BLP faithful gathered at Carlisle Car Park.
    “That is why we love them so [White Oak], because they’re persistent. And they’re persistent with the creditors. They were so persistent that they wrote Chris Sinckler again in 2017,” said the AG.
    Marshall also defended government amid accusations of a lack of transparency in choosing White Oak consultancy in the absence of a tendering process. He argued that Barbados’s situation was so “grave” there was simply no time after Government took office last May.
    “There was no time to tender because the process would have taken too long and Barbados would have been “stone dead”.
    “The first discussion at our first cabinet meeting was whether we should engage this same company, White Oak, that has done seven of the largest restructurings and seven of the last 11 restructurings over the last ten years. A company with an impeccable record and we made the decision at our first cabinet meeting.White Oak is saving us a billion dollars a year and their fees are millions of dollars. But we recognize that our situation was so grave that we had to find the finest skills that money could buy, to resurrect this country,” said Marshall.(Quot e)

  20. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ David June 3, 2019 11:35 AM
    “The question is repeated, how is it possible to produce blueprints in 1 year?
    If there are promises we will find out soon enough.”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    We are sure that a quick search in the Ministry of Hosing and Lands its executing agency the NHC would reveal a number of “blueprints” for the regeneration and upgrade of the City’s rat-holes like Cat Castle and Greenfields.

    These blueprints have been collecting dust for over a decade.

    Blueprints can also be found in the ‘vault’ of the BTII outlining the ‘proposed’ development of the Bay Street hotel corridor from Gravesend to the Pierhead.

    Do you remember the millions spent on the “Redesign” of Pierhead Marina much of which found its way to a St. Lucia registered IBC in which the Quisling Boyce and business friends are alleged to have had more than a ‘passing’ interest?

    Wouldn’t you say that Barbados has received value for money in the many redesigns of this project which has been in the pipeline of scamming for years?

    Should the taxpayers expect another iteration of the redesign of this project in the coming months?

    How about the old General Hospital property?
    Wouldn’t you say that eyesore is a total disgrace and major threat to Bridgetown maintaining its UNESCO World Heritage site designation?

  21. David Avatar
    David

    @Miller

    Are blueprints not informed by the level/type of investments?

  22. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ David June 4, 2019 8:14 AM

    Quite so!

    But the bigger question to be asked (and answered before blueprints are turned into realities) is where would the money be coming from to finance these grandiose projects with involving huge upfront forex leakages?

    With the Barbados under BERT strictures and unable to borrow on the open-market for infrastructural projects in a sunset industry, which local or foreign private investors would be prepared to take such huge risks?

  23. David Avatar
    David

    @Miller

    You are a Latin buff and know where the word politician originates. It was interesting Mia taking the country into her confidence that she had met with former chairman of Coke who promised to buy the wharehouses on the pier front in Bridgetown and invest 30 million.

  24. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ David June 4, 2019 8:38 AM

    That money would be better spent on the Four Seasons fiasco and try to resuscitate its great forex earning potential.

    Why are there no words of confidence and comfort on that dismal project which should have been brought back to life by the Avinash consultant guy?

    David, aren’t you ashamed as a Bajan to see the sorry state of that project and the environmental disaster in the making?

  25. David Avatar
    David

    @Miller

    In brief yes.

    It is a most beautiful part of Barbados. One filled with memories.

    Just look at Batts Rock.

  26. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    The Indian government is considering a new bill that would punish anyone who trades, mines, or holds cryptocurrency with ten years in prison.
    The “Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2019,” if it’s passed, would also prevent anyone arrested for a crypto-related offense from being bailed out of prison, according to The Economic Times. It’s a staggeringly harsh crackdown on technology that the Indian Government argues is often used for money laundering and other financial crime.
    In Progress
    Government officials in India have been working on the bill for some time. Meanwhile, numerous government organizations that deal with taxes have advocated a crypto ban, the ET reports.

    But the government won’t make a final decision until consulting with the Reserve Bank of India, which CoinDesk reports has distanced itself from the bill.
    Forced Choice
    This bill takes the nuclear approach to the problem of crypto regulation.
    But it’s not surprising, given that India has considered launching its own state-approved digital currency. Given that context, an open market of cryptocurrencies would serve as competition.(Quote)

  27. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    LESS THAN A YEAR after Melba Smith took over the chairmanship of the beleaguered Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), she has called it quits.

    Smith, a former general manager and director of news at CBC, was appointed chairman on June 27, 2018, on a three-year contract.
    Her resignation follows that of board members Gillian Leach and Mark Shorey.
    When contacted yesterday, Smith confirmed she had relinquished the office.
    “All that I am saying is yes, I have resigned, but there is nothing to discuss,” she told the DAILY NATION. (Quote)

    Crisis at CBC.

  28. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Barbados-based Trident Insurance Company Limited and Brydens Insurance, a branch of the Trinidad and Tobago-based Tatil Insurance company are in discussions with the possibility of forming a partnership.
    Tatil, which was established some 50 years ago, is a member of the ANSA McAL Group, and currently boasts a strong asset base.
    The over 39-year-old Trident Insurance Company, which offers a range of products including property, motor, travel, liability and marine insurance, is owned by the Leacock Group here.
    It is not yet clear what form the partnership would take or what changes there would be to the staff structure.
    However, General Manager of Brydens Insurance David Alleyne confirmed to Barbados TODAY that the two companies have been in discussions “for some months now to see how we could collaborate”.
    However, insisting that it was still early days, Alleyne said, “Recently we have come to an agreement that we will bring the companies together, with the shareholders of both companies deciding yes, it is something we want to do to create a stronger, focused entity,” he said.
    To that end the company held initial discussions with the Financial Services Commission (FSC) but still has to formally apply and obtain regulatory approval which could take several months.
    “So we are going through the process of applying and going through the process that the FSC has prescribed,” said Alleyne.
    “So at this point we have not defined what the structure is going to be like, how we are going to work together. All of that is yet to come and we are waiting until we are told ‘yes, you can combine the companies’. So there is not much more I can tell you because that is where we are,” he said.
    In 2007 the Jamaica-based conglomerate GraceKennedy acquired a 30 per cent stake in Trident Insurance Company, or about 900,000 shares, valued at just over US$1 million.
    However, ten years later Trident announced that it had purchased back those shares, through its Leacock Group.
    At that time Algernon Leacock, Chief Executive Officer of the company, said the purchase by the Leacock Group was a strategic move that would allow the company to reposition itself to enter into partnerships that were required for today’s changing market.
    Trident Insurance is in the top ten of insurers in Barbados based on gross written premiums.(Quote)

  29. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    President Mottley is meeting the UK Diaspora about now. Interesting.

  30. David Avatar
    David

    For those who maybe unaware the correct title is Prime Minister Mia Mottley.

  31. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    For those who maybe unaware the correct title is Prime Minister Mia Mottley(Quote)

    Now let us be serious. Is the term ‘president Mottley’ now banned on BU? Or is the chairman delusional?

  32. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Is this part of BERT?

    July 27, 2019

    The western hemisphere’s human rights tribunal has given Barbados three months to answer a petition to have its laws against same-sex intimacy struck down.
    The challenge to the laws, filed by a trans woman, Alexa Hoffmann, and two other Barbadians, a lesbian and a gay man, has been reviewed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in the last year.

    The IACHR sent the Government a copy of the petition challenging sections 9 and 12 of the Sexual Offences Act. These sections effectively criminalize all forms of same-sex intimacy and the Mia Mottley administration now has three months to respond to the petition.
    Section 9 outlaws “buggery”, which the courts have defined as anal sex between men but also between a man and a woman. The maximum penalty is life in prison.
    Under Section 12, “serious indecency” is sweepingly defined as any act “involving the use of the genital organs for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire.” The maximum penalty is ten years in prison if the act is committed on or towards a person aged 16 or older.
    The commission can issue a recommendation to the Government of Barbados to repeal the laws and if the State refuses, it can refer the matter to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which can issue a binding decision mandating that Barbados repeal the laws.
    Barbados is the only Anglophone Caribbean country that recognises the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, as it is a signatory to the 1969 Inter-American Convention on Human Rights.
    The matter has caught the attention of Minister of People Empowerment Cynthia Forde at a global decriminalization conference currently underway here.
    Forde declared: “We have no fear of legal challenge to any of our legislation.
    “That is how new law is made and how jurisprudence is enhanced and kept relevant.”
    The petition is being supported by Trans Advocates and Agitation Barbados, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, the University of Toronto International Human Rights Programme and other local and international social justice advocates.
    Alexa Hoffmann said in a Facebook post about the filing: “Just as I hoped when I first conceptualised the plan of action to challenge the laws at the international level, and as I did on June 6, 2018, it is my most ardent hope that this one action helps to improve and [pave] the way for LGBT advocacy, inclusion and legal protection.”
    Maurice Tomlinson, a leading Caribbean gay rights activist – now working for the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network- who is also attending the decriminalization conference, said that he hopes that the IACHR will urgently hear this matter in light of the primacy that the commission places on protecting LGBT human rights.

  33. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Former governor of the Central Bank Dr DeLisle Worrell is blaming the public sector for Barbados’ falling ranking in the Global Competitiveness Report.
    And he’s suggested that until the public sector receives a “makeover” then the island will remain uncompetitive.
    Worrell said in his August newsletter. “The main reason that Barbados slipped from number 46 in the global competitiveness rankings to number 72 in the most recent Global Competitiveness Report is the poor performance of our public sector.
    “Delays in registration and approval processes have robbed the country of over $2 billion of public and private investment in recent years.
    “In order to turn the economy around, the public sector must be given a makeover, to improve competitiveness and restore Barbados’ attractiveness to investors.”
    He said the country would have its first concrete evidence of public sector reform when the first government department or statutory corporation reports on its performance for the last fiscal year.
    Over the years, the Auditor General’s Report has made repeated calls for government departments and agencies to bring their financials up to date.
    Since coming to office just over a year ago, the Barbados Labour Party administration has indicated that it would be seeking to get all departments and statutory boards to bring their audited financial statements up to date.
    Stating that the information provided in annual reports is a basis for measuring the performance of Government and public institutions, Worrell said public accountability begins with the timely publication of those reports.
    He said: “The public has a right to expect annual reports from every Government Department and agency, every statutory corporation, the University of the West Indies and every other entity that receives Government financing.
    “These reports must be published within three months of the end of each institution’s financial year, so that accountability is current and relevant.
    “They must account for the use of the public running received, compare their performance to the intended programme for the year, and explain their successes and failures.
    “They must say what they plan for the current year, with the resources made available from Government’s current budget.
    “Their plans should include addressing unfinished business from the previous year, and provide an outline of medium-term goals.”
    Quoting the old saying that “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”, Worrell said the challenge of public sector reform was daunting but the timely publication of annual reports was “the single first step” towards the needed change that Barbadians expect.(Quote)

  34. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    High risk BERT looks set to fail. White Oaks must be laughing their way to the bank. It will end in tears.

    Governor of the Central Bank Cleviston Haynes is hoping that the deadlock between Government and external creditors on a debt restructuring plan will be resolved before year-end.
    While reluctant to give an estimated timeline on the matter, which has been ongoing for the past year, Haynes said he was optimistic that an agreement would be forged that would satisfy both parties.
    He made the comments on Friday while responding to questions from journalists during the half-year economic review from the island’s premier financial institution.
    “I am hopeful that we can get it done before year-end but I don’t want to give you a specific timeline. We are working as hard as possible to be able to bring closure to the matter,” said Haynes.
    “We have not yet got to a position where the counter proposals from the creditor committee match the 60 per cent target that we would want to be able to reach. Therefore, you look at different ways to see if you can get to your final position and that is what we are looking at. I can tell you that discussions are ongoing and we are hoping and optimistic that in the not-too-distant future we will be able to arrive at a final position on this matter,” he said.
    Haynes explained that a critical part of that final position should be that government would still be able to achieve its targeted 60 per cent of debt to gross domestic product (GDP) by 2033, which is agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the External Fund Facility-supported programme.
    “So right now we are not quite at that 60 per cent which means we have to tweak the terms and that is what the discussions with the external creditors are about – tweaking the terms to ensure that we are able to achieve the 60 per cent target.
    Government’s overall debt currently stands at about 124 per cent of GDP, down from the more burdensome 157 per cent of a year ago.
    Immediately after coming to office at the end of May last year, the Mia Mottley administration suspended all debt payments and managed to reach a debt restructuring plan with local creditors by October, which consisted of longer payment terms and a cut in interest.
    However, the creditor committee representing holders of US dollar-denominated debt, unanimously rejected the offer two months ago following a June 11 creditor update from Government.
    The committee holds over 55 per cent of the aggregate total of the instruments it represents and is comprised of long-term investors, including regional and international financial institutions, pension funds, regional central banks and individual bondholders.
    Haynes remained optimistic of a resolution soon, but maintained that the outcome should not put undue strain on the fiscal or on the balance of payment in the future.
    “We are optimistic that we will find a solution that is acceptable to ourselves and one that the creditors also find acceptable,” he said, adding that it was not unusual or surprising for external debt restructuring negotiations to take “a little longer” than domestic debt restructuring.
    “Having said that, it is important for us to be able to complete the external debt restructuring because it removes uncertainty,” he said.
    “We have put certain proposals on the table. They have put counter proposals and we are trying to get to a point where both sides are ad idem (agreement on the same items) as to how we achieve. What the Government of Barbados is very clear on is that it has committed itself to achieving a 60 per cent debt ratio target by 2033. Therefore, whatever proposals we end up with, that is sort of the line in the sand that we have to meet,” said Haynes.(Quote)

  35. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Rihanna, now worth Bds$1.2bn. There is no need for a Rihanna museum, get her involved in Bajan business.

    By Marquita K. Harris · June 5, 2019
    It’s official, Robyn Rihanna Fenty is the world’s wealthiest female musician. Let’s let that sink in.
    The 31-year-old singer, actress, entrepreneur, beauty and fashion powerhouse just became the world’s highest female earner in music, according to Forbes. Meaning she’s out-earned Madonna ($570 million), Céline Dion ($450 million) and, Beyoncé ($400 million), three of the most wealthy women musicians alive today.
    The financial glow up is real: In 2018 Rihanna ranked number 7 on Forbes list with an estimated $37.5 million. As Forbes notes, she’s now worth an estimated $600 million.
    As for the tipping point? In May, Rihanna officially launched her luxury fashion label in partnership with the French luxury goods conglomerate, LVMH. The partnership was historical, she became the first woman of color to lead an LVMH business and Fenty Maison is the first fashion company that LVMH has launched from scratch.
    While news of Rihanna’s ascent into the highest tax bracket in her respective field is a major accomplishment, it comes as no surprise. Launched in 2017, Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty generated $570 million in revenue during its first 15 months.
    Then in May 2018, Rihanna launched Savage X, an online-based lingerie company. During the first 40 days on the market, the company made $100 million in sales. It’s now available in 40 markets. Sheesh.
    Work, work, work, work, work indeed.

  36. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Every month Joy Kyakwita presses a button on her phone and does something in common with millions of other people across the globe: she sends money home.
    Ms Kyakwita, a London-based lawyer, gives a third of her salary to her family back home in Uganda, including paying money for school fees for her brothers and nephews.
    “I believe that when you pay for them to go on a good course, then there is a good chance of them becoming employable,” she says. “And if they are employed then they will be able to help their siblings as well.”
    Ms Kyakwita is just one of an estimated 270m migrants around the world who will send a combined $689bn back home this year, the World Bank estimates. That figure marks a landmark moment: this year remittances will overtake foreign direct investment as the biggest inflow of foreign capital to developing countries.
    Remittances were once viewed by many economists as a secondary issue for developing economies behind FDI and equity investments. Yet because of their sheer volume and consistent and resilient nature, these flows are now “the most important game in town when it comes to financing development”, says Dilip Ratha, head of the World Bank’s global knowledge partnership on migration and development.

  37. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    BERT’s squeeze is hurting the already ailing garment manufacturing sector and threatening the few hundred jobs still remaining in an unexpected way.

    Sunday Sun investigations revealed that the need to tighten up on spending by state-owned enterprises because of the adoption of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-backed Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme, has led some of these organisations to look overseas for uniform suppliers to cut costs.
    This has led to greater imports of uniforms from within CARICOM and as far away as China, at the expense of local manufacturers.
    So serious has the situation become that two leading manufacturers, Christopher Hadchity, of Yankee Garments and Dean Straker, of Barbados Industries Ltd, are calling on the Mia Amor Mottley administration to urgently address the issue. (Quote)

    Will BERT end in tears?

  38. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Here is one for BERT: does anyone ask any questions about the University of the West Indies staff pension plan? Let us get some information out in public.

  39. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    More PR – punching above our weight. When s the president going to sit at her desk and do work on the acute problems facing Barbados?

    For the fifth year in a row, Barbadian superstar Rihanna has focused attention on the importance of humanitarian pursuits and social justice endeavours.

    And the Grammy Award- winning pop icon did that by organising her annual Diamond Ball, a glittering affair in the heart of Wall Street, New York, last night.
    A highlight of the evening was Rihanna’s presentation of the Diamond Ball Awards to Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, and prominent writer and civil rights activist Shaun King, for their efforts to make the world a better place.
    She described Mottley as a “fierce champion for women, young people and empowerment through education (and) pioneering revolutionary programmes such as the education sector enhancement [initiative]”.
    In a statement before the exclusive event held at the glamorous restaurant, Cipriani’s at 55 Wall Street, she said both Mottley and King had made the award ceremony an evening to remember.
    The annual gala event contributes to her Clara Lionel Foundation’s global initiatives in health, education and other areas.(Quote)

  40. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    A beautiful morning to all in Barbados.

    Seems like a beautiful day where I am. Hoping you can say the same.
    HAGD

  41. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    What the hell is going on? This getting in to bed with China started under the DLP and continues seamlessly with the Mottley government. It is going to end in tears. When are decent Barbadians gong to speak out? Are Chinese doctors qualified to work in Barbados? Barbados is a failed state.

    Invest Barbados, the state industrial promoter is to set up an office in Beijing “within the next six weeks” to serve all of China, Prime Minister Mia Mottley disclosed last night.
    She told reception to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, at the Hilton hotel that the move is intended to take advantage of the economic treaties between the two countries.
    She said: “What is little spoken of in recent times is the AntiAvoidance Treaty for Double Taxation and the Bilateral Investment Treaty, which anchor the relations between both of our countries with respect to investment and taxation.
    “To that extent, the Government of Barbados is happy to announce that we will shortly, within the next six weeks, be re-establishing, in Beijing, an office of Invest Barbados and a representative… to take responsibility for investment in and out of Barbados.
    “We do not make this decision lightly, but we do so recognizing that in the same way that treaty was able to bring significant benefits to Chinese firms before the protocol was established, that there is also still an opportunity for Chinese firms to use Barbados as a beachhead for investment, as well as protection, as Chinese firms seek to invest in other countries across the globe, and particularly within this hemisphere.”
    The Prime Minister declared that to have these treaties and not have representatives go to work daily to promote them would be like not having them at all.

    She also revealed that Beijing and Bridgetown were currently in talks that would lead to the expansion of their relationship.
    “Without getting into the details, I am satisfied that over the course of the next few months, you will see significant progress on both the existing projects as well as new projects, which are in early discussion and are the subject of visits between our two countries,” Mottley said.
    Barbados has signed on to China’s Belt-and-Road Initiative through signing a Memorandum of Understanding which would lead to tangible benefits for citizens in Barbados and China, the Prime Minister said.
    “Yours from the point-of-view of investment and utilization of resources and ours as part and parcel of our developmental process in building back out key aspects of this country,” she told the Chinese diplomats at the reception.
    Staying the course, she declared, was one of the lessons she had learned from her interaction with the Chinese, noting that the People’s Republic of China was able to increase its GDP by 450 times what it was at its founding in 1949.
    Mottley said: “China did not set out what it achieved to do, to lift its people out of poverty, by changing course.
    “China has not made astronomical achievements in scientific and technological feats and innovation by changing course.”
    China’s Ambassador Yan Xiusheng said since diplomatic relations were established in 1977, China and Barbados had become good friends and partners.
    Our partnership has demonstrated a good example in international relations of mutual respect and developing equal relations between different sized countries,” Yan said.
    During Foreign Minister Senator Dr. Jerome Walcott’s visit to China in February, the two governments signed the MOU of Belt-and-Road Cooperation, to create more opportunities in the areas of advanced agriculture, clean energy, blue economy, infrastructure, and digital connection, among others.
    The Chinese ambassador said his embassy looks forward to working with its Barbadian colleagues “to bring the MOU into practical cooperation projects and to advance the economic and social development of Barbados”.
    So far, 11 Barbadian students have been offered scholarships to pursue bachelor’s or master’s degrees in China, said, Ambassador Yan.
    Meanwhile, a fourth medical team arrived last week to work at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, he added.

  42. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Are we going to discuss this development?

  43. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Is Mia about to sack a minister as a sacrificial lamb for her failing government?

  44. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley is reminding her parliamentary and Cabinet colleagues that the people must come first, and they must spend time with them.

    Speaking to the party faithful Sunday night at St Leonard’s Boys’ School after businessman Chris Gibbs won a nomination race in the St Michael West branch, she said the 81-year-old Barbados Labour Party (BLP) had not achieved success because its members were the “masters of policy, or that we can lead and handle management issues”.
    “We have come to this point first and foremost because we care and because we put people at the centre of what we are doing,” she emphasised.
    Stating she opened an early child care school in her St Michael North East constituency before heading to the meeting, the Prime Minister said her constituents, whom she has represented for more than 30 years, made “the difference on a day-to-day basis”. (Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley is reminding her parliamentary and Cabinet colleagues that the people must come first, and they must spend time with them.

    Speaking to the party faithful Sunday night at St Leonard’s Boys’ School after businessman Chris Gibbs won a nomination race in the St Michael West branch, she said the 81-year-old Barbados Labour Party (BLP) had not achieved success because its members were the “masters of policy, or that we can lead and handle management issues”.
    “We have come to this point first and foremost because we care and because we put people at the centre of what we are doing,” she emphasised.
    Stating she opened an early child care school in her St Michael North East constituency before heading to the meeting, the Prime Minister said her constituents, whom she has represented for more than 30 years, made “the difference on a day-to-day basis”. (Quote)

    Is this the very prime minister that sacked so many people approaching Xmas, many of whom have not yet been pad off? Words, words, words.

  45. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    The next 12 to 18 months will be “key” to Barbados’ economic growth plan.
    This from Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn who was delivering the feature address at the Reliance Cooperative Credit Union Limited’s new location and renaming ceremony Friday evening at the Harold Hoyte & Fred Gollop Media Complex, Fontabelle, St Michael.
    “It would be remiss of me not to indicate that the next 12 to 18 months in this country is going to be the most important 12 to 18 months I think we will have for some time. The decisions that are made today…. I am happy that you have made this decision to enact this specific initiative today because it means that your members with access to greater credit at Reliance can now start to plan….”

    Minister Ryan Straughn (right) with Reliance president Gregory Browne (left) and office administrator Ava Mounter at Friday’s renaming ceremony.
    The Finance Minister said Government’s plan for economic restoration was well underway and that
    they were actively addressing the debt which was incurred in recent years.
    “We have embarked in the last 18 months on stabilisation to give comfort to all who operate in Barbados, that Barbados is open for business. Government has sought to provide a level of stabilisation.
    “Households and businesses have built up a significant amount of debt over the last ten years. The Government of Barbados has repaid over the last ten months a significant amount of arrears back into the economy and we shall continue to do that over the next year.”
    Straughn said it was critical how spending will have a direct impact on the recovery of the economy.
    “How people chose to spend that money now over the next 12 months will determine how quickly the economy recovers. It is our intent to make sure that the environment remains stable notwithstanding
    the increasing international uncertainty with respect to Brexit and the other geopolitical events that are completely out of our control….”
    He continued: “But we must try to control that which we can so domestically. We are about providing a space where your members, your members’ families, your business connections… everyone can make valid business decisions that will endure the test of time.”
    The minister endorsed the joint business venture between Reliance and the City Of Bridgetown Credit Union, which will see the former lending over $250,000 in mortgage loans.
    “We in the Ministry of Finance are happy to associate ourselves with progress. This is part of the transformation that is the Barbados Economic and Recovery Transformation plan. We have to do things differently. This event demonstrates that the credit union movement can come together and
    provide transformative programmes and initiatives for your members,” he said.(Quote)

    What economic mumbo jumbo. The minister must explain in plain English were this economic recovery is going to come from, apart from people spending their life savings.

  46. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Equally, our inability to reduce our cost of communication by artificially placing costs and prices on us for talking across the region, when invariably if you pick up this phone,” Mottley said as she displayed her mobile phone, “and I go to do certain things, it comes up as Jamaica. Why? Because the switch from which it is operated is not located in Barbados. And if it is not located in Barbados, why am I paying roaming charges when I go to Jamaica?
    “A single domestic space in telecommunications is absolutely vital to the successful integration of our people… because at the end of the day, Governments don’t trade, it is people through companies and households that do so,” Prime Minister Mottley suggested.
    (Quote)

    When I talk about the poverty of ideas I am ignored. Here is a prime minister and leading light in CARICOM admitting there is a gap in communications regulations.
    Plse look at how the UK and EU have resolved this matter of roaming charges.

  47. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    More smoke and mirrors. What does this mean? Is the economic crisis over?

    Government is putting a stop to spending more than it earns as it focuses on ‘growing’ the island’s economy.
    In addition, Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Investment, Marsha Caddle has disclosed that over the next four years, government will not be taking any new capital market loans.
    She made these announcements at the Annual Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados (ICAB) held recently at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.
    “We are ending the period in which the government spent more than it earned, the period in which the government ran deficits and consumed the entire nation’s savings that would otherwise have financed private investments. Government consumption during that period, the decade 2008 to 2018, ‘crowded out’ private investment, but no more,” she said.
    Caddle stated government was helping to mobilise these savings into investments with new regulatory regimes such as the new Growth and Innovation Market, Regulatory Sandbox, and proposed regimes for crowd financing and peer to peer lending.
    Noting both developed and developing nations were always under construction, she stressed that as government continued to rebuild, partnerships were required, and she thanked ICAB for the role it has played in the fiscal recovery process so far.
    She also praised the social partnership for its ongoing involvement, emphasising that the island’s adjustment has been one of the most shared in the history of fiscal adjustments anywhere in the world.
    “We said from the outset, that labour would not bear the brunt of the adjustment, it is an adjustment that has seen capital and other sectors also have to share the burden,” she outlined.
    The Investment Minister explained government would not be entering new loan arrangements within the next four years.
    “Let me specify that this relates to capital markets and not to multilateral financing, which is as far as we can try to achieve [is] mostly concessionary financing,” she said.
    President of the ICAB, Lydia McCollin lauded government’s Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme, noting it was a key success factor in the government’s ability to swiftly conclude an agreement with the International Monetary Fund for the extended funding facility.
    McCollin also praised government for meeting all its targets to date under the initiative. “ICAB congratulates government for all its achievements thus far but there is much work to be done,” she said. (Quote)

  48. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Government yesterday cleared the way for a write-off of some arrears owed on land taxes and the penalties attached.

    Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn introduced the Land Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the House of Assembly, fulfilling a promise in the June 2018 Budget.
    He explained that back then Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley indicated there was a period where certain unrecoverable taxes would be written off from 1968 to 2001, and yesterday’s amendment related to land tax and a waiver of the amount payable on penalties.
    Affected persons must contact the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA) in order to enter into an arrangement for settlement. (Quote)

    Here is the Mottley government again passing wealth from poor tax payers to the wealthy. Does this land tax amnesty include businesses? Or West Coast millionaires? It is a perverse policy. Government should attach a lien on the property to be claimed, with interest, when the land is sold or the owner dies.

  49. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    The devil is again in the details, Hal. So many things to research, too little time. This is where we miss a reputable press.

  50. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Yes Hal agree a blantant policy of passing wealth from the treasury to those who most likely needs it the least
    I believe that when such policies are implemented names of those receiving the rebates should be publicly listed via newspaper
    It is amazing how govt can be talking about savings yet asking people to help pull the debt laden basket while at the same time have giveaways of the largesse coming from the hands of the treasury

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