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…The discussion must turn to how can we run a country on 25% less revenue than planned over the next 2 years. It does not have to come to layoffs either. It can come from improved tax collection, greater efficiency etc. It does not have to be a case of just “sending home people”…

BU Commenter: John A

What has has been weighing on the blogmaster’s mind in recent weeks you ask?

In light of the Covid 19 pandemic most economies in the world have been negatively affected whether service based, commodity driven or combination of the two. The result is that citizens will have to make sacrifices until ‘normalcy’ is achieved. This is particularly true for the most vulnerable people in society – the indigent and sick.

The 500 million dollar projected shortfall in government’s budget as a consequence of the prevailing adverse economic conditions is a reality not many Barbadians have come to grips if one listens to public discussion. Made more acute the country is suffering from economic fatigue after a severe debt restructure and a decade or more of economic wutlessness.

Obviously government has a moral obligation to find ways to keep workers employed. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to appreciate that changes – especially if unplanned – to the tax base will negatively impact revenues therefore compromising government’s financial obligations to pay for public goods and services.

Government’s ability to collect taxes is also affected by a performing private sector. If the private sector contracts for any reason by shutting down businesses or sending home workers, contributions to government’s tax/NIS revenues will adversely impact finances. Covid 19 has created the perfect challenge for all governments including Barbados.

Having mentioned the economic and fiscal hurdles facing the country, it is easy to forget the social challenges that have inevitably resulted to make governing more complex.

The country is currently embroiled in a discussion about the details of how the proposed Barbados Optional Savings Scheme (BOSS) will be implemented. The success of BOSS and other fiscal measures are simply that, short term. If the global economy is lazy to respond to recovery it means SIDs like Barbados will have big problems as it burns cash in hand (reserves) to pay salaries and other unsustainable activities to maintain a reasonable standard of living.  More and more rehashed commentary about how successive governments have built the economy on sand, encourage covert corruption and fuelled a culture of political patronage or a country living above its means will surface. This will make for good political discussion, however, does not make for constructive debate in the unprecedented climate we find ourselves.

The lengthy preamble to the thesis is – as a people are we capable of pivoting from the type of vacuous national discourse we have become accustomed to be replaced by one that is apropos?

A good place to start is to work at disrupting old thought patterns that encourage same old same outcomes. Easier said than done but is must be done if we are to survive as a nation out here in the global rat race.

…Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country…

John F. Kennedy

 

 

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136 responses to “Barbadians, ALL Together NOW!”

  1. Wily Coyote Avatar
    Wily Coyote

    Wily estimates that the government $500M shortfall in revenue is well under estimated, shortfall over the next 18 months is likely to be in the $1.5B range. When revenue falls and state is in a deplorable financial STATE as Barbados is then the options are EXTREMELY LIMITED, reduce salaries, ie reduce civil service and cutback services. Anything less is doomed to fail.

  2. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    We need to face the truth. It is impossible for the government to balance the budget through “… improved tax collection, greater efficiency etc.” These efforts cannot possibly net more than a few million dollars… totally inadequate to close the $500 million shortfall.

    But the government cannot balance the budget through “sending home people” either. That will simply push the economy further into depression because then those families are not spending money in support of their neighbors’ businesses.

    Nor will slashing the size of the cabinet and firing all the consultants make any worthwhile difference. It might make people feel good to spread the pain to those living high on the hog at public expense, but it will accomplish less than 1% of the target for balancing the budget.

    We need to think much more boldly.

  3. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @Wily CoyoteJune 2, 2020 7:26 AM
    I agree with you that the $500 million annual shortfall is very likely an underestimate, but a strategy to “reduce salaries, ie reduce civil service and cutback services” will be entirely counterproductive because it will force the economy further into depression and thereby dramatically further reduce tax revenue, leaving the deficit virtually unchanged while simultaneously impoverishing many thousands of families.

  4. ks Avatar
    ks

    PLT & Wily are correct…… trying to squeeze more from the ‘middle-class’ workers will do no good….. the government need to find a way to get people spend and get more money in circulation. The more people spend, the more government will collect in taxes. Time to abolish personal income tax, encourage investment in agriculture & renewable energy….

  5. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ David Bu

    I think you have covered all the bases as to where we are at the moment. The three previous commenters agree. The way forward depends on how quickly we can get the export sectors to produce and export. The GoB measures are attempts to keep things on an even keel until the economy is removed from the lock down phase. Of course that is not entirely within the control of Barbados. Small progressive economies are at the mercy of the international Economic System. and we cannot opt out. It is a datum.

    At the local level we need to make sure there are no leaks in the revenue collection system. John A and I have bee preaching this for months on end.. Their so called digital systems at this point in time are the weak links in revenue collection . Like water and sewage system, VAT collection system,income tax collection system they are leaks. There is no sense adding new pieces of taxes when we are not fixing the old systems.

    Yes . We need all hands on deck provided they do not get into each others’ way. From where I stand they are. They are becoming counter productive. Time to stop spinning top in mud. All activities are not actions. Many are optics. Can we have less of the latter?

  6. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @ks June 2, 2020 8:00 AM
    If the government abolishes personal income tax that reduces public revenue by $442 million each year. The most that the government recovers in tax is 17.5% of that, or about $77 million. So you see that this does not solve the problem, it just makes it worse.

  7. David Avatar
    David

    @Vincent

    Thanks, now to the hard job of informing everyone the enormity of the task at hand ignoring the politics and ignorance.

  8. Wily Coyote Avatar
    Wily Coyote

    @PLT

    Wily knows cutbacks and layoffs is a vicious circle, however Barbados is so heavily financially bloated that there is NO SOFT CURE. Country needs a MAJOR FINANCIAL re-adjustment if future economic stability is to be achieved. The socialist model being used over the last generation is not viable and has FAILED BIG-TIME, just took a PANDEMIC to highlight. WORLD changed to a global economic model over the last 30 years, now world is turning to a “MAKE AMERICA GREAT” model which everyone is turning to a self centered and more self controlled. Its unfortunate for Barbados however reallity is going to be PAINFUL. SOME small independent and semi independent countries, Singapore, Cayman Islands etc have a more robust financial economy and will no doubt be able to weather this new reallity. Poorly managed countries like Barbados will likely regress significantly socially and financially.

    This situation is not REALITY TV, and there are going to be lifetime lossers.

  9. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    Vincent Codrington June 2, 2020 8:08 AM
    Barbados has only three export sectors of scale: tourism, international financial services, and rum. We do not currently export anything else in sufficient scale to make a difference.

    Tourism is currently dead and will remain so until the global COVID-19 public health crisis is behind us. Even afterward it will be severely impaired because all of our source markets will be in a deep economic depression. The OECD is determined to sabotage our international financial services sector with bogus money laundering accusations or some other nonsense, so that sector will not grow. Rum exports need 3 to 15 years to mature in the barrel, so while long term prospects look god, you cannot ramp up exports immediately; the rum you distil today is not ready for export until several years have passed.

    So it is impossible to “get the export sectors to produce and export” quickly.

    We need to think much more boldly.

  10. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Tron

    In anticipation of your singing the Litany of the Oversized Public Service could you assist by adding the variation of re-calibration of the Public Service by removing departments and state corporations whose sell by date expired two decades ago?

  11. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @Wily Coyote
    I completely agree that our “Country needs a MAJOR FINANCIAL re-adjustment if future economic stability is to be achieved.” However, an unbiased look at various countries around the world clearly show that it is the capitalist “model being used over the last generation is not viable and has FAILED BIG-TIME…” Compare the effect of the pandemic in China to the effect in the USA. I don’t like the systems in either of those countries, but it is very clear that China is weathering this public health and economic crisis much better than the USA is.

  12. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ PLT

    The economy of Barbados has been my life time occupation. I have stated that historically and in the long-term Barbados cannot be a viable and progressive Society and Economy by opting out of Globalization. That is a given. We have not only to resuscitate existing exports of goods and services we have to redefine these and look for new emerging goods and services to sell to the rest of the world. So existing products and services cannot preclude the search for other emerging export goods and services. Self sufficiency, except for strategic purposes , is a non starter.

  13. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @Vincent Codrington June 2, 2020 8:38 AM
    I agree completely! Particularly that “We have not only to resuscitate existing exports of goods and services we have to redefine these and look for new emerging goods and services to sell to the rest of the world.”

    New emerging goods and services are not going to come onstream instantaneously, but our short term crisis requires an instantaneous response.

    So that leaves us with deciding how to redefine existing goods and services. How are we going to redefine tourism, international financial services or rum to make an impact this fiscal year??

    We need to think much more boldly.

  14. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    PLT,

    “We need to think much more boldly”

    give us your thoughts

  15. John A Avatar
    John A

    I really hope people stop and give thought to the depth of our situation before going down the party faithful route on this topic.

    As the guys above have stated the approach here needs to be carefully thought out, as the wrong move could cause a serious recession. I just want to simply lay out the wicket we are batting on as I see it.

    If we increase taxation now we will make the recession worst.

    If we do nothing we will run a massive deficit by March 2021.

    If we layoff more people we risk greater recession and social hardship.

    If we print too much money we create fiscal inbalance.

    If we burn through our borrowed reserves without FX coming in from tourism we are back where Sinkyuh left us.

    If we leave our collection agencies as is, we lose a large percentage of the little we will collect and as usual we the taxpayers will be asked to find the rest.

    So the question is how do we restructure an inefficient collection system, while trying to move the economy away from being so tourism dependant, at the same time on 25% less revenue than budgeted? Also remember there is no time for a blue paper and a green paper on this as every month the deficit is growing. So the standard timeframe government takes to make a decision will not work here either. The old saying ” Time is Money” was never truer than today!

  16. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ David BU at 8 :20 AM

    I do not know how we are going to get rid of politics and ignorance. Is there not a symbiotic relationship between the two.? They thrive when they exist together. Perhaps we need to send either politics or ignorance to the guillotine. I prefer to send ignorance. Pachamama prefers to send politics.and or politicians thereto. Make your choice.

  17. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ PLT
    You are doing too much bold thinking. All tstakeholders need to do bold thinking. It is their business to do so. It is not the sole task of the GoB. If one is an entrepreneur, GoB cannot be saddled with the task of developing entrepreneurs and come up with ideas for the entrepreneur to make a profit. The systems are in place. Let the Private Sector do their job of redesigning the Post COVID -19 business sectors.

    Let me reiterate. The GoB tactic at this point in time is simply a temporary holding situation which allows the private sector to re-calibrate. Going forward the government has to shed this role.

  18. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    We are glad to see that others are coming to our long held conclusion that capitalism can go no further, is dead.
    Like a lone voice making these arguments for decades it is good to have company here.
    What people fail to learn from their histories is that systems reach their natural limits.
    So the orientation of small countries has to be nibble enough to be first to transition.
    That will be the only way to survive.
    These ideas about the death of capitalism were introduced to the leading lights at the uwi 2 decades ago but that leadership was so embroiled in the economics of neoliberalism, putting a graduate in every house, was more important than giving the region a critical response.

  19. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ David BU
    I hope you understand the correct way of getting rid of politics and ignorance. No assistance to the private sector in building white elephants( no pun intended). No assistance in tax avoidance and evasion by establishing a user friendly , efficient and effective computerize system to collect taxes. GoB leading in front and by example in the tax and user costs collection processes.

  20. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    Vincent
    Can we select both. LOL

  21. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    I agree @Vincent, that all “stakeholders need to do bold thinking. It is their business to do so. It is not the sole task of the GoB.” However, part of our problem is that our private sector is, to a great extent, moribund and parasitic. It has one of the worst records for innovation anywhere on the globe. I’m not simply whining and pointing fingers; I am a tiny part of that dysfunctional private sector so this is self criticism.

    We (and by that I mean the totality of the Barbadian community) need to think more boldly.

  22. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    (Quote):
    To this, Greenidge replied that Government did not have a financial problem but rather a fiscal space issue that could only be resolved by shifting around line items on the current expenditure. (Unquote).
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    We have to agree with Hal A, our UK correspondent’s position (as outlined on a different blog) regarding the above ‘seemingly confusing’ remark.

    How can the government not have a “financial problem” when the money used to finance the operations of statutory agencies like the BTMI and GAIA has literally dried up since the bottom fell out of the tourism and travel markets?

    What is going to literally and ‘fiscally’ replace the hotel room levies, VAT and the Airport user fees? The figurative printing press stored in the vault in Church Village?

    Can we expect the SSA and BWA operations to be scaled back because the ‘collections’ from those recently imposed Garbage and Sewage ‘contributions’ have taken a big hit not only from the hotels and other rented accommodation catering to visitors but also from domestic households reeling under the excessive financial st(r)ain of Covid-19.

  23. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @Vincent
    “The GoB tactic at this point in time is simply a temporary holding situation which allows the private sector to re-calibrate. Going forward the government has to shed this role.”
    ++++++++++++++++++
    You know deep in your heart that this will never work. This crisis is much too profound. Unless Barbados has a solid economic foundation of consumer spending, the only re-calibration that will emerge from the Barbados private sector is capital flight.

    Barbados has a modest domestic market, so we have built our economy on importing consumers (tourists) to amplify our economy. Now that the tourists have gone, you cannot expect local capital to stick around to service a domestic market that has shrunk dramatically and shows no signs of growth. I know we will try to staunch that bleeding with currency export control rules, but you know full well that our talented lawyers and accountants will find ways over, through, under, and beside such controls.

    We all need to think more boldly.

  24. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ PLT at 9:10 AM

    I am in general agreement with you. There are some notable exceptions to parasitism in the Private Sector. Those who re-calibrate in the changing economic environment survive and make profits. Those that play politics and are parasitic disappear from the business landscape.

    @ Miller
    The after- shock of the COVID -19 pandemic is temporary. . The length of “temporary” depends on how Barbados responds and how business friendly the reopened international markets are.

  25. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    @PLT, if one theorizes about capitalism in the strict political/governance terms that often are shouted around then your remark sounds correct… Otherwise as written it really doesn’t gel with reality.

    When u said “However, an unbiased look at various countries around the world clearly show that it is the capitalist “model being used over the last generation is not viable and has FAILED BIG-TIME…” that caused a head shake of “OK, capitalism has its flaws*”.

    And then you said ‘[c]ompare the effect of the pandemic in China to the effect in the USA. […] it is very clear that China is weathering this public health and economic crisis much better than the USA is”.

    Are you saying that a non-capitalist regime has done better than the premier capitalist regime based on their economic models or that an ordered dictatorial, communist regime has done better than a democractic, open one?

    It certainly CANNOT be the former reasoning!

    The success of the PANDEMIC in China is due to the ability to MANDATE citizens’ actions without any of the push back seen in the US lock-down protests …. It is due to the ability to suppress dissent and counter-narratives forcefully without oversight of legal sanction.

    China was and is as devastated economically as the US…

    Evidence does not support the view that ANY style of economic activity has weathered this pandemic well… as they all were essentially shuttered.

    The problems in the US were made terribly worst due to leadership and some difficult demographic issues not principally or primarily because of their wanton capitalism.

  26. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ PLT
    All crises that were visited upon Barbados since 1627 were profound. We overcame them then,and we will now.
    We have the experience and the capability to survive this one as well. We need to continue to make sensible decisions. I know that in a few cases we have made knee jerk decisions that cost groups are the sectors that are paying for these ill considered decisions.

  27. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @Greene
    “What is going to literally and ‘fiscally’ replace the hotel room levies, VAT and the Airport user fees?”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++=
    Bold thinking… specifically thinking to replace hundreds of thousands of short term tourists with tens of thousands of long term high salary tech professional residents from the same source markets who work from home in Barbados at their American or European jobs. The occupy the much of the same tourism infrastructure of apartment hotels, AirBnB accommodation, villas, and condos of which we currently have a huge non performing supply. They patronize the restaurants, rent vehicles, buy gasoline, purchase groceries, hire gardeners, cooks and cleaners… You see it’s much more fun to work from home from a villa in Barbados than be cooped up in a COVID plague ridden apartment in New York or London.

    I’m working with Invest Barbados (pro bono for now) to see how quickly we can operationalize the idea.

  28. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    That auto-correct gobble-de gook should read “knee jerk decisions impacted negatively the middle and lower income groups.”

  29. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ PLT
    Would not this group have the potential to introduce the second and third wave of COVID into the country. If they are really working why should a room in Barbados be better than one in Toronto. Work is work regardless of the geographical location.

  30. Tee White Avatar
    Tee White

    We are discussing the country’s economic situation but appear to be overly focused on the GoB’s finances. The government is only one of the claimants on the Barbadian economy. It seems to me that if we are going to discuss the economy, we need to consider all those who make a claim on it, including the government, the workers and the local and foreign owners of capital and debt. We will also need to confront the issue of the purpose of the economy. Since politics is the condensed expression of economic interests, it will be impossible to avoid a political discussion. The country’s current economic predicament is the outcome of previous political decisions. The issue then is what kind of politcs and economy can a small oppressed country like Barbados build in the future. It’s obvious to me that continuing the old political and economic system we inherited from slavery and colonialism is not an option as it now stands before us as a naked failure.

  31. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @Vincent
    When we require them to be tested and proven COVID negative within 2 weeks before boarding their flight here, then we test them again immediately upon landing. They will not object because they are coming to live here for years, not weeks.

  32. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @Vincent
    It is the short term tourists who pose a risk to introduce the second and third wave of COVID into Barbados because they will not put up with much inconvenience for just a 2 week vacation. Furthermore we need 500,000 short term tourists to sustain our tourism industry, while 20,000 long term high income residents can provide us with the same level of foreign exchange earnings at much, much lower epidemiological risk.

  33. John A Avatar
    John A

    We also need to discuss how we are going to deal in the short to medium term with a shortfall in FX. will we finally stop talking about it and actually make a major push with Agriculture and alternative energy? If we can agree a USD saved is a USD earned, can we not also work on that as a matter of urgency? That will do 2 things promote employment and reduce the demand for scarce FX. Remember most of the FX we brag about having today is in fact borrowed money that has to be repaid.

  34. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @John A
    Bringing in tens of thousands of high income permanent residents is squarely aimed at dealing with our FX shortfall in the short and medium term.

  35. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ John A at 10:36 AM
    Why should there be a shortfall in FX? If there is no import s of goods and services what are you using the FX for?. If it is for food you will have your tipping point for the consumption of local agriculture production . Of course that depends on the rainfall.Demand will generate its supply.

  36. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    This is a robust discission let’s hope it is not polluted by those who are afraid of conjuring a new world in our image.

    Those so tethered to the past that the future can only be located within a book of lies.

    Those who are steadfast in a belief that any discussion of a way forward challenges their capitalist sense of being

  37. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ PLT

    I agree with you in importing long stay visitors or short term residents however we view them. We need to get a Stable source of FX ONE way or another.

  38. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ Vincent

    Last figure I heard was our food import bill was over 400M and our fuel import was well over that. If we say between the 2 it’s a billion dollars, we got to grown nuff food quick and put up plenty solar panels to put a dent in that.

    We will still have a good size net demand for FX even if we do out best. Not saying we can’t dent it though. The problem is every month we waste pussy footing the greater the deficit is growing.

  39. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @John A
    The think is we need to market and configure our product appropriately… faster wifi and proerly configured workspaces in apartment hotels is now important; limbo dancers and cocktail parties are not. All inclusives play a much diminished role, while front desk Fedex & DHL services are needed.

  40. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Pachamama at 10:54 AM

    Whether we are afraid or not, a” new world” will emerge post COVID -19
    It may not be what we imagine. But why should it? I am happy that it will be one that my children and grandchildren will navigate as easily as I navigate/d the post WW2 world.

    We must not lose sight of the notion that there are” many books of lies” that help us to limp through our perception of the world. It is a human condition.

    Let the discussion go forward and the challenges multiply.

  41. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    Even if we succeed in attracting tens of thousands of high income long term residents to solve our FX problem, we will still have profound economic dislocation to deal with. These long term residents will not provide as many service jobs as our old mass market tourism industry did, and many of our neighbors depended on those jobs to feed their families.

    Our problems lie deeper than our FX reserves. We are still not thinking boldly or deeply enough.

  42. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    There needs to be a mindset change.

    Improve tax collection. Yes, tax collection leaks are likely enormous. Do you really think all shops, vendors, skilled workers pay their fair share of taxes?

    Likely not, the wink wink nudge nudge still applies.

    But each wink is a kick in the groin of the country’s financial state.

    So yes, proper audits of all business and penalty on not disclosing income.

    But I think that we have spoken about here already, years ago.

    Improve forex retention. Bajans have got to stop buying unnecessary foreign goods.

    Spending on local manufacture is critical. The carpenter, seamstress, shoemaker, that is how to build the economy.

    Cut duties on manufacturing equipment. Whether a large unit or small.

    Provide incentives for all homes to go solar.

    Expand areas that ate taxable – Legalise marijuana but put Vat on sales. To sell marijuana a vendor MUST Vat register or face a compulsory time in jail of two years. Make it an easy choice by making the penalty for non registration tough.

    Those are really the main points – improve tax collection, increase areas that are taxable, reduce imports and increase local production across all areas.

    Someone above mentioned Cayman Islands as an example. Bad example.

    Cayman Islands is the epitomy of an offshore island. Plenty brass plate operations. No real substance just tax avoidance.

    Those days are finished. Cayman will soon face the problems that all small islands face.

  43. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    Is there room to more aggressively rollout alternative energy programs without destabilizing EMERA? There is cost savings to be had?

    >

  44. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @DavidJune 2, 2020 12:00 PM
    Yes, there is absolutely “room to more aggressively rollout alternative energy programs without destabilizing EMERA”… it simply means that we need to make investors put money into battery storage capacity as fast as they invest in photovoltaic generation capacity.

  45. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    The question that John a posed was “how can we run a country on 25% less revenue than planned?” but that is just a symptom of the problem… we need to get at the root. The root of the problem is that the Barbados economy is too damaged and anemic to generate the public revenue required to sustain the public employment and services we have. If we cut public employment and services we further damage the anemic economy and fail to fix the public revenue shortfall.

    The only choice we have is to find ways to strengthen the economy. We need to restructure Barbados. We need to think more boldly.

    We need to restructure Barbados so that no citizen is destitute, public revenues are sufficient to meet public expenditures, public services use technology to dramatically improve efficiency, and efficient public sector purchases of goods and services are completely free of corruption.

  46. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    We need to consider Universal Basic Income for all Barbadian citizens over the age of 18.

  47. Wily Coyote Avatar
    Wily Coyote

    @Crusoe

    “No real substance just tax avoidance.
    Those days are finished. Cayman will soon face the problems that all small islands face.”

    Agree with the above statement, however Cayman present fiscal position puts them head and shoulders above Barbados in the SURVIVAL realm. PLT is still promoting an offshore financial system for Barbados, however the PRESENT world regulators are gradually shutting down these unregulated jurisdictions, ie: Barbados recent BLACKLISTING by EU. However if world countries turn their economies INWARD like “make America great” then those countries that offer FINANCIAL sheltering will once again move to the forefront. The question woul be can Barbados ever compete in this highly competitive jurisdiction.

    Barbados at the moment needs to look INWARD to become self sufficient in food production to ward off starvation. The next major initiative should be to guarantee a reliable supply of potable water. If and when food and water are assured then Barbados can decide what the next priorities will be, shelter, economics, etc.

  48. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    It boggles the mind as to why would a country like Barbados boasting about its adequate store or reserves of forex (most of it achieved through loans) would want to continue to draw on further lines of the IMF loan-shark financial cocaine.

    Why should it lick its chops in great expectation of receiving any US $49 mill in BoP support in the coming weeks?

    Why take something which you claim you don’t need if it is going to push the country further into the foreign debt trap by compromising the chances of ever properly servicing the recently restructured old debt?

  49. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    If you are to think bold, why is the health of emera important.
    A bold rethinking should mean turning every building into a power producer.
    Giving emera a monopoly is capitalist thinking. The way of the past.

  50. Wily Coyote Avatar
    Wily Coyote

    @PLT

    UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME
    Great idea, maybe we can use our imaginary surplus FX to fund such an initiative. Peter these kind of humanitarian and socilistic views are basically what got Barbados to its present situation. Nothings FREE, SOMEONE HAS TO PAY. PRESENTLY THOSE PAYING ARE GETTING FED UP WITH THOSE LIMING, WHINING and BEGGING.

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