57 responses to “Where is the Trust”

1. 

   angela cox

   November 14, 2021 at 8:32 pm

   
   

   https://www.facebook.com/100040236487154/posts/643645656986645/

   What a dam shame
   Mia cares
   How about this Wickham
   Wickedness in high places

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2. 

   crusoe

   November 15, 2021 at 1:07 pm

   
   

   Firstly, a bow to the presence of the Elder Bush Tea. Respect and good wishes.

   Now, on the NIS, you really want them to report? Seriously?

   You like looking at a disaster? Do you have masochistic tendencies?

   When they do, better give out a free brandy or two, along with the report.

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3. 

   crusoe

   November 15, 2021 at 1:10 pm

   
   

   Effectively, with very few real investment options in the island, the NIS is just one big sou-sou.

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4. 

   David

   November 17, 2021 at 5:53 am

   
   

   Atherley: Generate revenue; cut borrowing

   GOVERNMENT NEEDS to reduce the amount of foreign borrowing it is now doing and focus on generating more revenue at home.
   Leader of the Opposition Bishop Joseph Atherley said this was necessary, especially in the context of funding Barbados needed to undertake infrastructural development.
   He was speaking yesterday as the House of Assembly debated the Customs Bill 2021, which, among other things, is seeking to make the Customs Department more efficient.
   “We have to improve revenue generation; we have to improve revenue collection because we want to change the dynamics in the domestic economic space. Not every piece of infrastructural development capital works has to be necessarily funded by foreign dollars,” Atherley said.
   “We have to borrow [and] pay back in those same foreign dollars over time, but some of this could be generated from local domestic capital once the capacity of the entity in the front line with a responsibility for so collecting is able to collect and therefore we can generate in the domestic space those additional dollars.”
   Atherley said he accepted that borrowing from overseas sources “is necessary”, but added: “If you are going to strategically reposition the economy, you can’t think about that and talk about that without reference to what you do about your profile when it comes to foreign borrowing.”
   He said that the Mia Amor Mottley administration and its predecessor “relied heavily on borrowings from the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and from the Central Bank of Barbados that has landed us into some difficulty.
   “This Government came and in a sense by reneging on the debt to the NIS, reneging on the debt to the Central Bank, indulging in this tax restructure, in a sense is reflecting the same type of disposition that administrations feel we can borrow and we can borrow,” he said.
   “That is the economic model of the past and it needs to be seen to be receding into the distance behind us . . . . And we need to be able to position ourselves such that we can derive more foreign dollars from earnings of revenue in relation to borrowings.” (SC)

   
   Source: Nation

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5. 

   David

   November 17, 2021 at 5:53 am

   
   

   Economic strategy ‘in doubt’

   OPPOSITION LEADER Bishop Joseph Atherley is not convinced Government has an economic growth strategy.
   He wants the authorities to say how they are going to make Barbados more economically competitive and to reduce the reliance on imports.
   Atherley was speaking yesterday in the context of improvements at the Customs Department as the Customs Bill, 2021, was debated in the House of Assembly.
   The St Michael West representative said Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn, who initiated the debate, suggested that part of the reform at Customs was in the context of the strategic repositioning of Barbados’ economy.
   However, Atherley said while a viable vision for growth was necessary for all governments, he was “yet to be convinced that this Government is possessed of a sense of a viable vision for growth”.
   “And a Government without a viable vision for growth in the Barbados economy is not likely to have a fully and properly conceptualised vision or framework for the operation of Customs in Barbados towards the end of repositioning the Barbados economy,” he asserted.
   A requirement
   Atherley said improved competitiveness was a requirement for an improved economy, adding that the days when trade preferences helped Barbados in this regard were over.
   “Globally we have left that era behind so we are not benefiting now. It’s not expected that we can rest upon a premise
   that suggests our economy, because it is underpinned by a privilege position of preferences with reference to trade, be viable,” he said.
   “So if we are going to talk about repositioning strategically the Barbados economy, you have to tell us how we [are] going to improve our competitiveness.”
   Barbados’ limited exports and high dependence on imports was another challenge he believed needed to be overcome.
   “If we are going to strategically reposition the Barbados economy, we have to treat to the matter of export efficiency. Barbados’ economy is characterised by high import orientation; we are an importing jurisdiction.
   “The slightest cough anywhere in the world, the slightest shock, causes a trauma for us, and the exposure to which we are subject as a vulnerable economy in a very competitive global world suggests to us in very clear and distinct terms that we have to engage ourselves in the serious business of facilitating export efficiency.”
   (SC)

   Source: Nation

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6. 

   David

   November 17, 2021 at 5:54 am

   
   

   Financial sector withstands Covid-19

   The following article was submitted by the Central Bank of Barbados.

   AS WITH EVERY SEGMENT OF SOCIETY, the major players in Barbados’ financial system were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges it experienced, however, the financial sector remained stable.
   This is according to the 2020 Financial Stability Report, a joint publication by the Central Bank of Barbados and the Financial Services Commission.
   So how was Barbados’ financial sector able to withstand the fallout from the pandemic?
   First, it’s important to understand what the report means by stable. Carlon Walkes, senior economist at the Central Bank and head of its Financial Stability Unit explained: “Stable means that it’s working well. The financial infrastructure is sound, such as the payments systems. Financial intermediation is running smoothly – that is, the flow of funds from savers to borrowers is working well.”
   Unemployment rate
   The major threat to financial institutions during COVID-19 was what those in the sector call credit risk, or the possibility that borrowers would not be able to repay their loans. This was a concern because of the increase in unemployment caused by the pandemic.
   Indeed, the unemployment rate at the end of December 2020 was estimated to have risen to 13.6 per cent from 8.9 per cent the previous year.
   A major increase in non-performing loans (NPLs), which are generally defined as loans that are more than 90 days in arrears, can impact not only a financial institution’s profitability, but also its stability. During 2020, commercial banks, credit unions, and finance and trust companies all saw an increase in their NPL ratio, but it was not as significant as some may have expected because they were able to allow many of their clients to defer payment on loans through various moratoria programmes.
   Loans under moratoria were not considered to be NPLs.
   Sustain the shock
   Do how were local financial institutions able to weather the financial storm created by COVID? Walkes offers an explanation: “The first and most important factor that led to the system being able to sustain the shock of COVID-19 would be the liquidity in the system.
   It was well above the requirements. It was growing for commercial banks for quite some time. As a result, institutions were able to finance the moratoria programmes as well as their day-to-day operations.”
   By liquidity, he means that financial institutions have “enough cash for depositors to access their deposits. There is enough cash [for financial institutions] to engage in investments if need be, and to sustain shocks such as COVID”.
   The senior economist said liquidity has been high in the financial sector for many years, particularly at commercial banks.
   This is the result of a combination of an increase in deposits and a recent decline in loans being issued.
   “Barbadians have been saving and not borrowing as much,” he added.
   Walkes said another reason the sector was able to remain stable was because of the quick transition to work-fromhome arrangements.
   This allowed financial institutions to continue their operations almost seamlessly and in so doing, reduced the disruption to the local financial system.
   So why does all this matter?
   The news that Barbados’ financial sector, while challenged by COVID-19, remained stable in 2020 is reassuring. With the vast majority of Barbadians having savings or investments in local financial institutions – the Financial Stability Report reveals that the credit union movement alone has 222 000 members – we all want to know that, as Walkes said, we can continue to access our money should we need to.

   Source: Nation

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7. 

   David

   November 18, 2021 at 7:38 am

   
   

   A window for opportunism
   THE RECENT ANNOUNCEMENTS of retirements of long-standing, successful candidates and Barbados Labour Party (BLP) Members of Parliament, has elicited much comment from political observers.
   In the past month there have been retirement announcements by Jeffrey Bostic (City of Bridgetown), John King (St Philip West) and Ronald Toppin (St Michael North). There has also been a retirement hint by Dr William Duguid (Christ Church West).
   In addition, there are at least four other constituencies (St Andrew, St James North, St Thomas and St Michael East) which, for various reasons, face the prospect of candidate replacement.
   While this can be viewed as a positive development in terms of political renewal and the blooding of new politicians, when taken in the context of the electoral prospects of the two main parties, the present moment has opened up a large window for opportunistic politics. A space has been created for those who wish to enter the political arena, not out of a desire for public service, but for personal aggrandisement and the occupation of high office for its own sake or out of careerist motives.
   It is widely agreed by most commentators that, based on current circumstances, the chances of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) winning the next elections are likely to be slim. With the BLP having won all 30 seats in the last poll, and with the DLP facing a moment of internal reorganisation from ground zero with little evidence of positive upward shift, a moment of one-party dominance is portended for at least the next election.
   It is this feature of the upcoming election which makes the moment particularly ripe for opportunistic politics.
   Ideological stances
   Opportunism, simply defined, is “the absence of principle”. Opportunists are disdainful of ideas and “ideological stances” rooted in belief and political conviction. They are motivated largely by self-interest. One feature of the opportunist is the tendency to seek the path of least resistance in the pursuit of self-interest.
   Had the last election been closer in terms of seats, it is very likely that persons who are eagerly offering themselves for election as BLP candidates, would be more circumspect. It is also true that the BLP leadership would have also been more cautious in risking seasoned campaigners for novices.
   There will also be several former DLP politicians
   making common cause with the BLP. Similarly, previously aloof “technocratic” types, who historically have had little connection to the mass base of the party, will be offering themselves.
   Ironically, seasoned political leaders are often vulnerable to johnnie-come-lately opportunists than they are to long-standing party loyalists. Perhaps, they feel less threatened by newbies. Perhaps opportunists are more skilled at sycophantic fawning.
   Whatever the explanation, amidst the whirlwind of candidate changes likely to occur in the BLP, the public should pay special attention to political motives of the “new types”. There will be opportunism at play.
   Tennyson Joseph is a political scientist at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, specialising in regional affairs. Email tjoe2008@live.com

   Source: Nation

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