The blogmaster received a report that some banks in Barbados have forced customers to submit requests for international wire transfers online and as a consequence Barbados importers are being frustrated by delays in processing. The reason for the delays is that in the case of one bank the blogmaster was able to confirm processing of the wire transfers is being done in Trinidad.
The question being asked is whether the transfers are being delayed because of an unavailability of foreign exchange by local banks or a case of the processing office in Trinidad playing ‘god’ or simply inefficient.
The developing situation comes at a time when the IMF has advised government to remove the 2% foreign exchange fee former minister of finance implemented to defend dangerously low foreign exchange reserves in 2017. The fee obviously will impact the high cost of living because Barbados is a net importer. As a first step the government should add key items to an import list that should not attract the 2% fee. The Mottley government boast of high level of international reserves which is mainly a result of borrowing.
IF there is a low level of foreign exchange held by local banks it means the Central Bank of Barbados as is the customer will sell to the banks to satisfy consumer demand? It would allay fears if those responsible address the situation.
Today’s Nation’s story:
IMF: Drop 2% fee
by SHAWN CUMBERBATCHshawncumberbatch@nationnews.com
THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND’s (IMF) staff wants Government to phase out the two per cent fee Barbadians have been paying for foreign currency transactions since 2017.
Then Minister of Finance Christopher Sinckler introduced the measure in his last Budget more than four years ago as the country’s international reserves plummeted below the accepted benchmark of 12 weeks of import cover.
It was intended to reduce the demand for foreign exchange and allow the foreign reserves to stabilise. With the reserves at $440 million (five to six weeks of import cover) when the Mia Amor Mottley administration was elected in May 2018, the measure was maintained and remains in place.
With Barbados’ reserves reaching $2.86 billion (42 weeks of import cover) at the end of the September, the IMF’s Barbados mission thinks Government should consider “gradually phasing” out the capitalflow measure “as the pandemic dissipates, and reserves build up”.
This was outlined in the IMF’s latest staff report recently submitted to its executive board as it approved the sixth review of Barbados’ IMF programme and the annual Article IV consultation. The assessment was that Barbados’ authorities “will consider removing the foreign exchange fee as the pandemic dissipates”.
Phased out
“The two per cent fee introduced in 2017 remains in place. This was assessed by the IMF as a capital flow measure and should be phased out as reserves build up,” said the Barbados team led by Dr Bert van Selm.
“However, the authorities plan to maintain the fee until alternative revenue sources, including through an economic and revenue recovery, can compensate for the potential losses from its discontinuation. Staff stressed that foreign exchange fees should not substitute for fiscal and other macroeconomic policies to improve fiscal position.”
In the Central Bank’s review ofBarbados’ economic performance between January and September, it reported that non-tax revenue, including the foreign exchange fee, was $64.1 million between April 1 and September 30, the first half of Government’s financial year. This was an increase over the $47.4 million earned in the same period last year.
Governor Cleviston Haynes said: “With the increase in foreign exchange transactions, revenue collected via the foreign exchange fee accounted for almost half of the enhanced uptake from non-tax revenues which expanded by $17
million.”
Reserves boosted
Barbados’ foreign reserves were boosted by $249 million in loans from multilateral lending agencies, “and an injection of $261.6 million from the IMF via its allocation of [Special Drawing Rights] to members boosted reserves over the nine-month period”.
Haynes added that “despite these inflows, the reserve increase for the nine-month period was only $204 million, a result of the steepreduction in travel credits during the first quarter, and the pick-up in import demand over the last six months that led banks to purchase foreign exchange from the Central Bank to meet customer needs”.
Additional external payments were related to debt service and other expenses on behalf of the Government, he reported.
The two per cent foreign exchange fee is charged on purchases of foreign currency and payments related to foreign currency transactions. It is applied to purchases and payments made at commercial banks and other authorised foreign exchange dealers, credit card providers and money service providers that handle outbound foreign currency transactions or loans.
This means that consumers who buy foreign cash, pay for a wire transfer or bank draft, or use their credit, debit or travel card to pay for a foreign transaction, have to pay the fee.
A related story:
Source: Nation
I’ve been hearing for a while that sometimes, cheques from banks in Barbados issued to people to settle debts overseas bounce!!
@ David
I can confirm what you are saying is true. It took me 6 days to get a wire sent this week and when I asked what the delay was, I was told a shortage of foreign exchange in the system. They went on to say they have to wait for foreign exchange to come in so they can process the wire. I can also tell you of other businesses who have been waiting 10 days and more to get wires sent off as well.
So my question is why with all the millions we are borrowing, is there a shortage of foreign exchange in the system resulting in local companies not being able to send payments for basis items such as food?
Any comment from our central bank governor on this?
@John A
Thanks, two things here.
Foreign reserve held by the central bank is separate to that held by banak. The blogmaster recalls a stirring debate between Mascoll and others during the previous government. The other question – is the central bank refusing to sell foreign exchange to commercial banks?
The majority of foreign exchange sources by banks comes obviously from tourism. With Covid 19 one can imagine the short.
@ David
This is a question the Governor must answer. What I can tell you is if clients owe suppliers and pay them late their company credit is at risk. The other issue is with banks like Scotia turning over their wire payments to their Trinidad office, will we here suffer as a result? Previously when we went in and bought a wire we knew it was sent. Now all you get on finishing the transaction online is a note saying the transaction has been completed. Many including me take a screenshot of that and send the supplier, only to be embarrassed when the actual wire then takes days to go off.
This is not good enough, these banks are solely interested in their bottom line and don’t give a rats ass about customer service!
We saw how Bajans reacted to the VAT free day …… now is the time to for Government to do the following: A Duty Free day !!! Allow Bajans to shop Duty Free IF paying in a Foreign Currency!!! This will result in the Central Bank getting some needed FX locally!!!
CLS Continuous Linked Settlement and interbank PvP settlement services act as intermediaries in settling foreign exchange trades
The real question is whether the economy is being managed correctly under the present circumstances. We seem to believe that having enough foreign reserves is the only true measurement of having good economic management.
The habit by banks of holding up money sent into the island, has been going on for years. Quite frankly, banks are not known for being too accommodating when queries are made from citizens based overseas even if they have accounts with them.
When are we going to admit that we seem to be heading down a very slippery slope; when are we going to stop looking at presentation of policy and look more for content.
We are yet to hear any clear economic policy from the current administration. We are getting a whole lot of double speak and that apparently is what we seem prepared to accept.
It is obvious that even the most skillful apologists are becoming disillusioned and are embracing Napoleon styled Animal Farm tactics to compensate for their disillusionment.
Well, no surprise, the duopoly is known for turning otherwise pretty reasonable people into political zombies.
@William
Banks like the government depend on inflows from tourists, sale of local properties to expats etc. from time to time like now with covid, financial meltdown etc these kinds of challenges will negatively implant foreign exchange coming into the island. To your point, we have build the economy to depend on tourism and related services. For it to change the have to discover ways diversify. The blogmaster had a quick look at Goddards recent financials posted and it was heartening to see that although itâs catering arm was severely impacted by the pandemic last year it as able to keep the P&L reasonably intact.
@ David
You will also note that the interest that Goddard has in Angostura, a Trinidad business, was instrumental in its performance.
That’s why I continue to posit that Caribbean businesses with good partnerships can be beneficial to the region and individual countries. I am appalled when we continue to lambaste some regional entities referring to them in rather unfortunate terms because they are making their presence felt locally.
Goddards diversified donkey years ago .
The article by Dr Juliet Melville is at a level that even simple Bajans like myself can understand. Added to that, it explores the different avenues that the recipient of these bond may travel in (a non-partisan way).
I hope to be non-partisan as well, but I wish to rip-off the false veneer of respectability that the good doctor doctor has gently given to this sham. A careful read would inform the reader that payment by jJ-bonds is a sham and of no real benefit to the payee. Here are the reasons
(1.) inflation will devalue the dollar amount of these bonds,
(2) the bonds do not pay interest,
(3) converting these bonds to cash will result in a deep shaving of the current value,
(4) the government can delay/postpone the payment of these bonds,and
(5) the recipient of these bonds are caught in a vise (or vice) like grip that they must endure for a period of time
There is no benefit to recipient; he/she is losing money; only the government benefits.
This is just a next example of the Orwellian nightmare that the government has trotted out recently.
This is a transfer of wealth from Bajan families; a good example of a government impoverishing generations by taking their valuable property and paying them nothing.
This is the classic three card monte where the government shifts around the paper-cups and the payee gets the empty cup.
This is the six-for-a-nine being handed out to the citizens of Barbados.
This is some fast thinking clerk figuring out ” How to repay Bajans without spending a dime”.
This is a sham/scam
This government has put a kind face on outright theft and sold it to the nation. There are some who will tell you that it is raining. Well if it is, I am glad that you can ignore the feces and urine and feces down your leg.
The main challenge with paying in bonds and in the case of the domestic restructure is the senior citizens and those approaching retire age who have seen their retirement savings gone up in a bit of smoke.
Able to contribute a single comment – on a comment.
My experience
A blogger once referred to me as a “honorable Trinidadian”. As a loyal Bajan, I will tell you that if you can avoid Trinidadians being involved in your transactions then you should do so. If there is one place where things are done slower than in Barbados, you have found it. I love the people and the food, but hate depending on any kind of bureaucrat in Trinidad.
@John A
Now all you get on finishing the transaction online is a note saying the transaction has been completed. Many including me take a screenshot of that and send the supplier, only to be embarrassed when the actual wire then takes days to go off.
++++++++++++
Seems like they have centralized the processing of these transactions and perhaps there has been a corresponding decrease in FTE’s ( Full Time Employees) in the affected island (Bimshire) Anybody know if Scotia has cut employees or reduced some staff hours recently? Trinidad would seem to be the logical Centre for completion because they do many more of these transactions than Bim.
You shouldn’t be having to do a screen print as proof that the transaction has been completed the Bank should be providing a confirmation number and ensuring that the process has been completed on the day it was initiated. I wouldn’t blame the Gov’t for these types of delays, some poor sap is given a book load of papers with transactions to be completed and if they take a few days to get to yours too bad
Complain to your local office in the meanwhile……..
Don’t stop the Carnival
John A
I see ur rum shop is doing Well
You moving up
Now tou into to leaking FX. 🤔😆
@WS
The partnership GEL has is with Agostini (vs Angostura).
@TheO
Do you understand the GoB is broke? Their cash flow situation is tenuous.
@ NO
You are correct. It’s Agostini not Angostura. Thanks.
Banks make their monies by their treasury in interest gained from short term deposits in money markets during settlement period, delays releasing funds means they make more.
Funds should not be taken out unless banks confirm they can make payments due on standard settlement dates.
I continue to be perplexed by local professionals writing on J Bonds.
The settlement of arrears for land acquisition, only covers $320M of the $1.9B issue. NIS arrears are $2xxM (Forget the number given).
We know in general terms, ‘outstanding public debts’, but exactly what are these? We are talking about items which account for $1.3B of the issue.
Time for them to dig down.
Why all the fuss?
We all know that the Barbados dollar is just a kind of toilet paper. It is not freely tradable internationally and the purchasing power is at most 1:5 to 1:10 USD.
Our natives wanted independence in 1966. Now they should not be surprised that the currency is as weak as the economy.
Finally, a word of advice to our native masses: If you stop eating like oxen and become slim again like smart people, we save 50 percent of the cost of food imports.
“We know in general terms, ‘outstanding public debts’, but exactly what are these? We are talking about items which account for $1.3B of the issue.”
Bonds are a means of lending to Government money to supplement tax income, with interest paid to lenders.
Government plans to do a turnaround to make enough money as profit to cover debt obligations.
Wealthy may support scheme for avoidance of tax increases.
In this case context is important, government is using bonds to circumvent poor cash flow. It should matter the bonds are being issued to individuals who need the money to support themselves and mental state.
@ John at 6:33 am
How can this be when the cheque is bill of the bank? You should really interrogate these reports before propagating them.
@ David
I think the question we must ask is whether the central bank is withholding sale of fx to commercial banks deliberately. Or are the commercial banks just offering a piss poor service here to?
@ Sargeant
What they offer you is a screen that says ” process completed” with a process number. The problem is its been taking days and sometimes over a week to get the wire sent off and the account debited. So here you have a screen saying process complete which is totally worthless in terms of proof the wire has ACTUALLY been sent.
@555
Frequently yes. But in this case(s) they are converting aged A/Ps into a future fixed promise to pay. They are delaying paying, not raising, funds.
And any discount (pending any future GoB decisions) is taken by the Bondholder. The local market for GovPaper is worse than the stock market. And even the sharks will be cautious. If a Bondholder accepts 50 cents on the dollar for cash now, the new holder has to expect to collect something more than 50¢. And while devaluation isn’t on the books today, it is always a concern holding instruments in uncertain markets.
Capitalism need growth and a healthy economy to thrive or it dies when it’s momentum ceases and once you are out of the game you cannot get back in again you fall into the gutter and will stay there forever
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdUheyyo4g4
The means to kick start the economy is required
look at its as a form of Cardioversion sending electric shocks to your heart through electrodes placed on your chest.
@David
No government “wants by choice” to issue J-type bonds. It exposes their dirty payables secrets, and forces into the public arena, any future compromises they make.
They could be ‘stiffing’ payable entities for years and nobody knows. There is an opinion that if any entity ‘speaks out’ it reduces it’s chance of getting paid. The “hush ya mout” principle takes over.
Are you saying Government Bonds is funny money and a bit moody and Government Creditors are being sold a lemon, surely not
On hindsight..
I should have added “Holmes” at the end..
for maximum impact
@NO
How do we get transparency in the case you outlined – public servants are sworn to secrecy although this does not extend to doing their jobs as required.
@David
You don’t. It is very difficult even in the publicly traded private sector entities to discover such. One example, the AR for the GEL catering was deemed relevant by auditors, such that each airline’s payables were noted. Government doesn’t issue an audited annual Report? The Aud Gen is the best you get? And as we know that office has difficulty getting specifics.
Governments everywhere dislike providing information they do not have to. And why the reports from individual entities like NIS, QEH, Transport Board etc are very relevant.
Seems we are in bad shape. Prime Minister Mottley referenced the poor shape NIS is in soon after the dramatic debt restructure exercise and she it had to be addressed at some point. With another election on the horizon we wait…
Where is the strident opposition voice anyway- isn’t this the main characteristic of our kind of democracy?
Also J bonds are of no use in growing the local economy. All we seem to be doing is issuing IOU’S and hoping real money will shop up down the road to honour them.
The government is buying time waiting for a tourism rebound or kicking the can down the road per usual, take your pick.
Please do not blame the messenger.
@David
“The government is buying time waiting for a tourism rebound
Omicron will make that a bit difficult
omicron may be a blessing in disguise the jury is still out.
lawson I en even gine axe you why
Only Girl In The World
Large Tune
Maybe a pop star / business woman / national superhero can buy some Gov Bonds to help bail out BBD
@ “Chancellor AKA-Grandmaster”
it’s ok to post your editorial tsunamis without the fear of castration.
Holy Scripture tells us that after St. John the Baptist was beheaded, the impious Herodias forbade the prophet’s head to be buried together with his body. Instead, she desecrated the honorable head and buried it near her palace. The saint’s disciples had secretly taken their teacher’s body and buried it. The wife of King Herod’s steward knew where Herodias had buried St. John’s head, and she decided to rebury it on the Mount of Olives, on one of Herod’s estates.
@ Tron
“Finally, a word of advice to our native masses: If you stop eating like oxen and become slim again like smart people, we save 50 percent of the cost of food imports.”
Xxxxxx
Fact!!!!
Is it fair to say keeping an eye on the credit rating of international agencies is important although they were found to be part of the problem in 2006/7 read global financial crisis?
@Observing
Some of the comments quoted from hoteliers are inane.
Source: Nation
Bonds to settle debt due for land acquisition and court judgements?
Great way to screw people. Utterly unconscionable.
Cold hard cash!
@Tron / Tony,
Fact indeed. And medical costs for the country drop too. Substantially.
We know summa wunna like a thick woman, but dah ent good fuh you nor fuh she.
@John A,
And as you know, those IOUs are worthless.
@ Crusoe
This J bond thing is an embarrassment. Until the government can arrange a secondary market with a commercial bank to cash and hold the bonds till maturity they are worth nothing to the worker in the form of being able to service debt etc.
Government needs to enter into an agreement with a bank to take these bonds and cash them for the workers then when they mature remit them to government for market plus 6%/annum or something of that nature. It is unreasonable to expect people who owe Light and Power and Courts to foot the late payment fees as a result of the tardiness of the state.
Basics of Currency
The promissory clause printed on the banknotes i.e., “I promise to pay the bearer the sum of Rupees …” is a statement which means that the banknote is a legal tender for the specified amount.
×
Everythang / The Coup
“And it was just about the time
For the part of the close
When the hinges went out flyin’ off
The motherfuckin’ doors”
Superior sound quality
Superior sound quality
Superior sound quality
Superior sound quality
Dub your shit, baby
Everybody throw your lighters up
Tell me, y’all gonna fight or what?
Everybody get your shit started
This is your motherfuckin’ party
Everybody throw your lighters up
Tell me, y’all gonna fight or what?
Everybody get your shit started
This is your motherfuckin’ party
Every death is an abrupt one
Every cop is a corrupt one
Without no cash up in the trust fund
Every cat with a gat wanna bust one
Every guest want a plus-one
Every tenement’s a penitent
Every tried man is innocent
Time served should be the cent spent
Everybody wanna hear the lick
Every one a y’all is getting pimped
Every time I spit I’m feelin’ ripped
Every cancer is a homicide
Every boss better run and hide
Every human is some kin to black
Every Visa got a pin to crack
Every verse is from the cardiac
Every search is involuntary
Every inmate want commissary
Every bank note is promissory
Every broke motherfucker finna form a gang
And when we come we takin’ everything
The article from the Nation needs cleaning up, some statements have been repeated
@John A
Was there not a feeble attempt to start a secondary mortgage market in the 90s? Our market is way to closed and static on opportunities for investment. Something successive governments have failed to efficiently implement. Instead we have a generation of Barbados who labour under the mistaken belief a savings account is an investment.
@JohnA
What arrangement? No Bank in their right mind want any involvement.
There are no easy solutions.
I think a topic early in the New Year should be guessing what creative move will be next.
I vote for seizing x% of deposit accounts over YY, and replacing that cash with a K-Bond.
The one thing they can count on is the docile nature of Bajans not to revolt?
@NO
You may recall the last government raised the requirement for financial institutions to hold government paper because he admitted there was no appetite by them to invest in government bonds. Since the investment market has deteriorated.
@David
the relationship with financial institutions has —————–? You recall the comment from one Republic Board member recently.
So they raised that requirement (and then defaulted?), they also took percentages of $US on account and replaced it with $BDD. Now we have the J-Bond. It is all a progression, picking off the easiest targets first. The ‘next move’ will lie within the next easiest target. Is that the Banks again? Or?
Republic of Barbados may soon start paying people in spliffs
but we are still waiting for them to open the doors of perception for freedom of the mind
When you free your mind your ass will follow
Fuck a Referendum
Free the Weed
@Sarge
Glad you mentioned it.
When you have reached my age and you are reading a respected newspaper and start reading things twice, you begin to question yourself.
Did I somehow scroll back?
What is happening?
I must be mistaken
@David or @Nothern can either of you gents advise if this ridiculous (illegal, really as that new statute is – as suggested above- unconscionable) bond payment MANDATE for govt funds owed is done anywhere else in the ‘free’ world.
And @David, your remarks that “… was there not a feeble attempt to start a secondary mortgage market in the 90s […] Our market is way to closed and static on opportunities for investment.” leaves out the MOST important aspect of ANY freely operated commercial market: the will/desire/viability to PARTICIPATE.
Our financial market is no more static or closed than it is simply not robust enough to sustain the activity of what we may expect in finance. It is truly about size and lack of breadth of ‘instuments’ restrictions (or constrictions, really).
Our real estate market performed big time vis international comparisons so too of course our tourism products … to cite the two best but what is/was there to truly trade on our ‘stock exchange’, as a comparison.
So I would gently disagree with your premiss … and these two bond matters reinforce the view that there is just limited viability. A bond is a tax benefit investment and then the longterm gain at maturity … how in hell can such a market be sustained when the freaking bonds are reduced in value at maturity (at least that seems to be the case for most recent issues).
That’s not an investment … that’s govt borrowing from it’s citizens and freaking NOT paying back … nonsense..
I was trying also to follow the logic of the matter re disability monies being deemed as pension or pensionable income … but my head started to throb as it seemed so damn absurd .
Is THAT level of financial gymnastics what you deem as viable and proper to maintain a robust financial sector!
Well my comprehension they tell me is limited anyhow so this is definitely too high level for me to overstand
Lata gents.
Let me clarify… bond payment MANDATE to private citizens for money owed to them!
NOT to investments houses or non profits or pension fund managers …
A bond is a tax benefit investment and then the longterm gain at maturity …
— Banking / Dub Specialist
@DpD
Such clarity. I suspect you have not yet begin to party.
@555
I can get on my computer and buy bonds just like how I can buy stocks.
The situation here is quite different …
People are not making a free choice on investing their money and there may be a deep long-term loss instead of a gain. Cutting and pasting does not cut it here.
“People are not making a free choice on investing their money and there may be a deep long-term loss instead of a gain. Cutting and pasting does not cut it here.”
Why have you got the hump again
Fixed Term / Interest was the point geezer
bitches will be bitches
Sorry I meant
Fixed Income… is Bonds Asset Class Definition
Last/last
You missed the point..
No interest.
Uncertain term
@DIW
It is done where the Government of the day was in doo-dooo. Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador etc Frequently mixed in with messy devaluations.
“that’s govt borrowing from it’s citizens”….yep, but we like nicer terms….Home Grown Financing.
“Our real estate market performed big time”….and probably a good place to look at today. What is happening?
sad to here the bajan christmas nativity play has been cancelled again
@NO 11:01 A.M.
You lost me there. There is no way that I would buy a bond with zero interest at maturity and all I would get back is principal. I thought that was what the J2 bonds was doing.
However, there are ‘zero-interest bonds’ which pays the interest only at maturity, which is quite different than what I think the J2 bonds does.
Are these J2 bonds zero-interest bonds or do they return interest and principal at the end of term?
Here you have young DLP Stuart agreeing with us that because of government’s cash flow crunch it is forced to issue junk bonds. We recall the previous government had the printers overheating reportedly in the amount of 50 million monthly. There you have it, take your pick – print money, issue junk paper.
Economist weighs in on government’s debt:
https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/12/23/economist-weighs-in-on-governments-debt/
@ David December 23, 2021 2:55 PM
So what? I couldn’t care less about the junk status of local finances. Those who make their profit in BBD have only themselves to blame.
It was clear to all rational thinking people in 1966 that independence would end in a financial disaster. Not because the inhabitants are former slaves and blacks, but because Barbados is a small island off the world trade routes in nowhere.
We must finally come to terms with the fact that we will remain poor. Anyone who claims that the situation will ever improve is lying. The masses will remain impoverished forever. We must finally realise the great advantages of our island: Sun, sand, rum and a very friendly population always up for fun and dancing.
In paradise, we don’t need SUVs, fast food and all the other things that finally cost us a lot of foreign currency. Modesty is a virtue, dear friends!
Would be funny if the person who came up with J2 was using it as an acronym for junk-bonds version 2.
They may be wicked but have a great sense of humor.
Theo you buy the bonds at a discounted rate and get face value at maturity
@Lawson
Rephrasing my question…
Is that what is supposed to happen? If that is the case, then it is better than what I read or I misread.
I think the article I read did not mention ‘discount’ and said paid ‘zero interest’. Searching for the article. Perhaps the information is there, but badly written.
Have a great holiday season Lawson.
Went back to the first comment which is an article by Dr Juliet Melville. She mentions discount but not in the same sense you are using it.
But I am wondering if my suspicions have biased my reading of the BarbadosToday article. I hope not, but apologies from me may be in order.
Gotta go.
@Northern
Wait you questioning the Integrity of the might bajan post republic bond! Listen them back by the good name of the republic now, them ain’t back by no foo foo caribbean island! Wunna should be clamoring to buy them. Them will be collectors items in years to come! So we had a little default thing the other day but dont mind dat. All that happen before the mighty republic was form! Listen try and buy some do and know we is a power in the Caribbean sea. I mean i read we got more debt per capita than anybody else so at least we come first in something!
TheO
I made no ref to interest rates nor maturity?
@DPD asked if this swap of bonds in lieu of cash was done elsewhere.
@JohnA
Appreciate your clarification.
However, I will leave these exceptional investments for locals.
Remember. We too love acronyms BERT, BOSS, etc. The new entity is RoB. Act accordingly.
And J-series Barbados Bonds for You = JoBBY?
@NO
We are Barbadians living in Barbados, where else can we invest to ensure the country we and our children and children’s children have to live can sustain itself?
@ NorthernObserver,
Instead of buying bonds why not donate to the QEH ?
Thanks for sharing such an informative thing !!
For more: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/forex-trading-mastery-in-2021–969399888512540128/
@David
Renewable energy?
Technology?
However the larger question you frequently pose it what does sustain mean?
Well NO we are sailing on the ship Barbados, we have no choice but to try something, failing we all go down on the sinking ship.
@Hants
I don’t trust a one of them. They do not (will not?) account for most of these entities. One hasn’t a clue where the money goes.
You don’t see Corporations doing their own work on public structures, like Parkinson School, East point lighthouse etc They DO NOT TRUST the money if donated will reach the intended target.
@ NorthernObserver,
Note that it is your money I am suggesting you donate to QEH. lol
People have been warning FOR WEEKS…to keep an eye on your accounts, make sure you know what is going on in them EVERY DAY..
“The new entity is RoB. Act accordingly.
And J-series Barbados Bonds for You = JoBBY?”
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Yes, DPD. Financial gymnastics indeed! They were looking to save money and decided that disabled people who are are prohibited from selling a bag of dunce to supplement their disablement pension should be relieved of forty percent of their income. It would surely have resulted in mortgage defaults or starvation for medically unfit retirees without family support. This was obviously not what was intended when the laws were written decades ago.
I am convinced that it would never have been reversed without Caswell’s inescapably clear intervention. His logic simply could not be denied.
Of course, the claim was made that the action originated not with orders from the top but with a recently promoted senior civil servant at the Treasury who had realised that two pensions were being paid.
But when Ryan Straughn insisted, even after the decision was reversed, that the disability benefit was indeed a pension, that statement lost all credibility. ( If it ever had any, that is.)
#Hants
When my grandfather died, the equipment required to treat his ailment was unavailable in Barbados (90s). Post his death this was purchased and donated to the QEH. Since then through Bajans in Canada I have donated to their purchases of dialysis equipment.
When you are contributing to something specific, that is great.
Forget who, but a company refurbished a room(s) not long ago. Again specific.
All good.
Write them a cheque? No way.
(subject matter experts)
People who understand banking investment markets are the people who work in banking accounting and financial services, which excludes reporters in media. If Government bonds are a scam that will default, Government would be liable for fraud. Specialist knowledge in various specific instruments is gained by those working in the relevant financial business areas. Banks do not check accounts the onus is on customers to check their own accounts for error fraud etc.
@ NorthernObserver,
I am glad that your family and friends contribute to the QEH.
I would contribute too but CPP / OAS is barely enough for me to survive. lol
Kemar say
https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/12/23/economist-weighs-in-on-governments-debt/
Another scam in FX is manipulation of FX CCY Buy/Sell rates
Can’t be Life
There must be more to Life than this
@David, re “What is the yardstick you are using to determine a secondary mortgage/securities market would work in Barbados if executed properly? There is a demand for diverse investment products that can be trusted.”
I suggested the exact opposite, actually…. that there is little viability for an active and sustainable market of that type.
I completely agree that there is such a demand because of course Bajans have become 1) ‘higher up and better off’ and do have the discretionary wherewithal to dabble in those areas and 2) the barriers to entry are now practically nonexsistant .
However, unless things has changed drastically the local market is simply not robust enough to sustain a deep rooted financial sector with regular bond and other securities trading.
One example (as I really am no longer deeply familiar with the local market) … the Fortress Fund has been in play now over … what … 15 plus years… that was an interesting ‘option’ (bad pun) for local investors… there should have been more like it (maybe they were but I know not).
What I do know, however, is that (Fortress excepted) those of my generation nor let’s say @Vincent or @Northern’s generation (who I presume are a few years my seniors) or even a younger crop had established such a fund management group that had the $$$ to buy out the BS&T supermarket group and other local assets as they came to market several years ago. …. That is truly ANOTHER discussion but the point is that a financial sector is as robust and active as the players within make it.
Our market seems to have found its level which is way below what you appear to be proposing… but that’s my limited view. I would be guided by others who know the local scene better.
I gone.
@Dee Word
Yes the word would should be wouldn’t. The dynamics of anything can change if environmental factors change. You are basing an opinion based on historical, The market is now in a place where there has been high liquidity for many years added to negative interest rate scenario. The condition is ripe for behavioral shift by consumers.
@dpD, well put.
Peoples,
A suggestion. Instead of offering bonds in lieu of acquired property, why not offer like for like aka, in exchange for ‘your’ property, a government property of equivalent value, valued at the average of three independent valuers?
A lot of idle government owned property. For example, all of those former CXC buildings at the Garrison etc etc.
Why not do this. Avoids the long term govetnment debt and gives the property owner a marketable, tangible product.
Unless of course, the admission, by inference, is that by refusing to part with these, the authorities are admitting that they are more worthwhile than the bonds aka, the bonds are of little value?
PD John A…exactly, the bonds are unmarketable.
@Northern,
I have long suspected that as being their last resort. Others have done it.
Surely the only thing that has prevented it so far is the expected unpopularity if it and the impact on elections.
Unfortunately, I think that it will happen, at some point.
The only question remaining then is, if you use all of your “gold”, what happens when it runs out?
End of the day, it all comes back to economic fundamentals i.e. productivity and earning, including forex.
And NO corruption. Cannot get anywhere without addressing that.
Correction- Disablement BENEFIT ERRONEOUSLY labelled PENSION in the NIS handbook.
Trouble in paradise?
David December 24, 2021 7:19 AM #: “Sagicor manager sacked.”
I’m wondering if the article is referring to Janice Mullin-Sargeant.
She is/was a manager at SAGICOR and has won ‘insurance agent of the year’ on several occasions.
@Artax
Her husband also manages a Sagicor agency? Have not had confirmation.
@ David
After reading, “She was the top agent for nine consecutive years,” the source said of the well-known woman who had consistently qualified for the million dollar round table and received the coveted President’s Award,” in the article, Janice immediately ‘came to mind.’
@Artax
For sure she has been the blue eyed girl so to speak. She an her husband were too agents at CLICO as well.
Banks tend to bulk up and net FX trades by currency pairs
so if someone is buying USD and someone is selling USD
then one deal is made for the net total
this will be applied to 100s and 1000s of trades for a day
A huge chunk of Barbados economy is owned by Triinis .They themselves have been experiencing currency shortage for six years in a row, The fee should stay in place as a means of capital control. Iceland had capital controls for ten years after the collapse of their banking sector in 2008.
Jamaica is the only caricom country and one of the few small states globally to run a market-based foreign exchange regime. There are no restrictions concerning foreign currency trade. However, it comes at a steep price with frequent exchange rate volatility, mostly moving in one direction of depreciation,
As a country we don’t earn enough forex to fully liberalize the market.
@David. Correct, but yet we want to live the same life style as if we are earning surplus foreign currency.. The fact of the matter is that most people rarely think about the reserve and the consequences of their consumption behaviour. Our mindset and access to foreign currency is seen more as a right and entitlement.rather than a precious resource.
@ fortyacresandamule December 25, 2021 4:14 AM
We could save 50 per cent on foreign currency if our population were not so incredibly fat and gluttonous.
Merry Christmas anyway!
I’m already looking forward to high inflation in the coming years. That will help us enormously with debt relief.
@ David Bu
We seem to be managing our foreign reserves position regardless of whether we understand it or not. Our Economy is so structured that the relatively free market system is managing our supply and demand for foreign currency.There is no need to envy Jamaica or any other country their methods. We do what works for us.
@Vincent
What do you mean by ‘managing our reserves’. How much of it is derived from borrowing versus earned?
@Tron. You are hilarious indeed. Anyway, happy holidays to you and your family.
This makes you wonder why Barbados governments terrorize the Rasta Community over marijuana and refuse to do right by the group who have indigenous rights….wuh look with all the barriers they put in place, they won’t even be able to get the finished product or the raw material into Canada to generate foreign exchange for the foreseeable future…..wonder if they are understanding these ramifications…..won’t hold my breath, most people have already moved on..
and some countries on the continent are streaming full speed ahead…
cannot help those who do not want to help themselves with a second economy within the Afrikan family.
“disparate group of countries, businesses and organizations is calling on the Canadian government to remove nontariff barriers effectively blocking commercial imports of unapproved medical cannabis, even as some local players say the ban is needed to protect squeezed domestic cultivators.
Businesses – some with their headquarters in Canada but production overseas – have joined countries such as Colombia and Jamaica in calling out Canada for prohibiting foreign competition within its medical marijuana industry, which largely remains closed to foreign exporters.”
wuhloss, ah even forgot, they already got their marijuana slave plantations set up, complete with wannabe slave masters, some from Canada too, security and guard dogs…..
Karma will always get ya, retribution will always SEAL THE DEAL.
WURA-War-on-UDecember 25, 2021 7:05 PM wuhloss, ah even forgot, they already got their marijuana slave plantations set up, complete with wannabe slave masters, some from Canada too, security and guard dogs…..
This is disgraceful. Local small operators still not allowed to grow the crop, but certain people can walk in and set up large operations.
What SHOULD have been done, is that venture companies set up on the local (admittedly non existent, but this is exactly why) stock exchange, with locals allowed to invest. This money then used to set up R&D, (grow) manufacturing capacity, branding, sale and export.
THAT is how local business is grown. Albeit, in the wrong country, the above venture money would disappear to corruption.
Have you noticed that all of the bigshots that come in from some places end up being characters of interest..a couple even ended up up being charged by North American authorities, such as the cricket man.
People loves to big up these folks….but then things blow.
But that is plantation life.
WARU disparate group of countries, businesses and organizations is calling on the Canadian government to remove nontariff barriers effectively blocking commercial imports of unapproved medical cannabis, even as some local players say the ban is needed to protect squeezed domestic cultivators.
This is why I laugh when people say that Barbados cannot do this or that, referring to WTC rules. The Canadian economy, including banking sector, is highly protected by legislation, go check it. And here in this matter that you mention, protective, anti competitive measures.
WTC rules WHAT?
@Crusoe
Is it true businesses in Canada involved in cannabis trade have serious issues accessing banking services? Please paint the full story of the issue.
Source: Nation
Source: Nation