Central Bank of Barbados Governor Cleviston Haynes delivers the Bank’s review of Barbados’ economic performance in the first quarter of 2022 and takes questions from the media and online audience. Review of the Economy January to March 2022 (Text Version)
Central Bank of Barbados Governor Cleviston Haynes delivers the Bank’s review of Barbados’ economic performance in the first quarter of 2022 and takes questions from the media and online audience.
Review of the Economy January to March 2022 (Text Version)
With its International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme expiring at the end of September, Government is expected to start repaying the $850 million it borrowed from the financial institution from next year.
https://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/2022/04/28/barbados-start-repaying-imf/
Dpd i guess by now you have figured out that Mr Skinner is anti Ms Mottley snd anti BLP..If these predictions had come from Dr Worrell, Mr Stuart or Mr Sinckler you would not heard a peep out of him., mark my words.However the proof is in the eating we shall see what happens going forward.I gone.
(Quote):
With its International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme expiring at the end of September, Government is expected to start repaying the $850 million it borrowed from the financial institution from next year.
(Unquote).
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And where is this money foreign money going to come from?
The sale of the AIR and SEA ports to the Chinese or the Arabs or even the Russian oligarchs with dirty money looking for a laundry in the Caribbean?
Imagine that! Having to borrow from the same IMF to repay the same IMF.
Isn’t that like taking a 5 dollar bill from your left pocket and putting it in your empty right pocket just to pretend you have $10.00?
Now this is the perfect alibi for the new republic to bite the bullet of pride but with the shame of no industry and ‘demand’ from Britain Barbados’s share of reparations for almost 400 years of chattel slavery, colonial economic exploitation and blatant cultural indoctrination.
Why not let Britain payback the IMF along with the other foreign debts due to the international loansharks as a final divorce settlement?
Maybe the local Anglican Church can impress upon its dying Mother back home to support its boastful Bajan government’s financial claim of righting the moral wrongs committed by their slave-owning ancestors including those of our own John the Quaker.
Maybe then our Vince Codrington the BU economics guru would feel comfortable in changing his name to Kunta Kinte.
angela cox April 28, 2022 3:20 PM
RE: “Tell that to the Governor who placed political economic politics against the back drop of reality……
Don’t have to tell him anything.
Please explain what is “political economic politics.”
RE: “……..what he did not say was the 11percent increase was and addition added to a cumulative amount brought forward from last year creeping growth totals.
Hence in reality the Jan to March growth was one percent which included last year total.”
Please explain in simple English.
Re “Dpd i guess by now you have figured out that Mr Skinner is anti Ms Mottley snd anti BLP..”
@Lorenzo leff me out of the political circus. I have figured out no such thing. The brother is an equal opportunity pessimist and lambastes both parties for all to read!
I am simply kerfuffled by the distress and ole talk on basic year-over-year growth stats and wondered what analysis caused those remarks.
“Now if CXC had done its job, you and your ilk would be working on ZRs on the Airport route instead of confusing the damn blog with mumbo jumbo…”
I did minding my business and drinking water byt this mek me spit out all!!🤣🤣🤣🤣
This made me smile
“@Lorenzo leff me out of the political circus. I have figured out no such thing.”
Will smile even broader when Lorenzo returns and bags and tags DpD as a D.
@African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved,
“British Virgin Islands: Premier Andrew Fahie arrested in US drug sting”
@ DPD
Realism is often branded Pessimism . The economy is growing how? We are out of a recession yet 50 000 are unemployed. What is the true unemployment rate? What sectors are performing any better than they were before?
All government issued bonds are underperforming.
The cost of living is higher now than it ever was before.,We are paying more for bus fare , water and electricity than before.
Where is this 11% growth in real terms?
The old way of measuring economic growth bears no match to our socio economic reality.
We can talk about growth forever but poverty throughout the region is rising and has risen to astronomical levels and no fancy reports can gloss over the fact that we are seeing an increase in BIm.
Branding glaring facts and realism as pessimism , gloom and doom and other tired adjectives does not eliminate the facts.
There is no way that we are better off today than we are economically better off than we were in 2018.
And it’s not Mottley’s fault. It’s the reality of COVID, a vicious downturn in tourism, along with hurricanes, volcanic ash, a lazy retail oriented private sector and now the war in Ukraine.
How the hell can we be better off when these circumstances and others have us in more real debt than we actually were before.
We are witnessing a historically high level of economic decline.
We are waiting for a new, promised economic model and there is none . Worrell, Haynes , Blackman , Cox and all the others have given us the same damn message for fifty years and the results have not significantly changed our economic decline with or without COVID, hurricanes, volcanic ash, and the howling of the Bees or Dees.
That is why Mottley has validated Sinckler’s failures and that is why he has embraced and validated Mottley’s leadership.
Same shit, different day.
Call it what you may. But look at the evidence.
@ Lorenzo
You are rapidly becoming a lost cause. You can’t be saved : just make sure your garbage is collected and you can catch a bus. And enjoy your heavenly stay on whatever Barbados you live in. Take the garbage and the bus ride to the supermarket and pay fir your groceries and other essentials. And continue to wish the man you claimed supervised the “ lost decade “ well. Follow your leader at all cost.
Peace.
@ William 6.48am
Amen!
@Skinner, ok thank you for your clearly defined analysis on that basic 11% growth comment from the Gov. Understand you perfectly. Now sir, that being clarified we can agreeably part ways on the perspectives re Bdos and regional economic forecasts.
Your view is indeed pessimistic although very evidentiary strong. Economic progression is almost exactly as you described the scenarios and that’s why we HAVE to look at numbers in relative and not simply in absolute terms.
Absolutely we still see folks in poverty here and across the region but relatively that does NOT invalidate the fact many more have been pulled from the pain of impoverishment into meaningful and sustainable life.
Undoubtedly, engines of the economy are down and unemployment and underemployment are high but realism tells us that it’s quite improbable and well nigh impossible to consistently have any ‘full employment’ level in Bim … our economy does not have the infrastructure to achieve that (except of course for smoke and mirrors programs to employ thousands on beautification Urban Dev. jobs or some such).
So I accept your realism and still label in pessimism !
Unless bus fares are massively subsidized we will always have to pay MORE and more as all other costs increase for operating such a transport system … can we get Bajans to become a society of EV bikes and scooters or economy size cars to better buttress our transportation . Hardly!
Utilities need to be managed very efficiently clearly but they too have increased costs year over year over year so comparatively (another relative measure) they MUST be higher. Are current economic costs at NPV higher or lower than 10 -15 years ago? I have NO idea … and I am not going to complain now about Canadian ownership and I certainly can’t opine on whether BL&P is gouging consumers.
Is the 11% growth real? Well, as a basic comparative measurement it describes an increase surely but does it mean that our economy is in BETTER shape than five years ago… ABSOLUTELY not. Do we have the plans in place to get us into a better space? We have ideas and pretty policy proposals but as you suggest the realisms from the past does not fill us with confidence about success.
So again I get your realistic view and the “historically high level of economic decline” but again in the face of historically high levels of world-wide economic upheaval, political populism and all that has transpired in Bim in last 10 years I see NO upside in looking at all that via a ‘doom and gloom’ lens … there have been TOO MANY other positives for Bajans for us to retain such an outlook!
Peace, brother.
All the long talk that we are not better off than we were in 2018. Does not take away from the fact that we are better off than we were in q1 of 2021 unemployment etc are all better
Who expect us to be back to 2018 level already?
It is amazing how supposedly intelligent people are unable to place comments in context.
Those that have ears to hear would hear with understanding
The use of technology by this administration would guide people’s interest into what govt wants people to hear think and belive
There is a new standard being set by govt one of delivering and not asking to be questioned
Any one with an iota of economic understanding would know that for growth in amounts governor stated during a pandemic and a country borrowing instead of producing cannot in any way deliver growth rate numbers in 3 mths which were handed to the people by the governor
Where is the high level of productivity to produce such numbers in a country where the economic wheels are all but fallen to the ground
Why did governor simply ignore the question asked
IS Barbados out of a Recession?
In the body of the very first comment after the article – posted by the blogmaster
Quoted from Dr Haynes
“The definition of a recession is after two consecutive quarters of economic fallout. Our economy has been now growing for the last four quarters, but the truth is that we are not where we were at the end of 2019,” the economist said.
Picked up
“So I try to avoid labels, because yes the economy has picked back up – for the last four quarters we have grown – but I think we will only begin to feel comfortable once we at least get back to where we were in 2019 and then start to grow.”
Recession fears are mounting. Here’s how to protect your money
https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/28/success/money-moves-recession-geopolitical-unrest/index.html
Middle class under pressure?
“To be fair, the pandemic has had a devastating impact on all people, regardless of the level they are at, whether the upper, middle or lower classes.”
By Tony Best The fortunes of Barbados’ middle class may be at the crossroads, facing either decline or acceleration, but the solution could depend on a mix of the new republic’s health and economic conditions.
Interestingly, that quandary may be answered if society decides whether the middle class glass was half-full or half-empty.
That, in essence, summarised the conclusions of two key Bajan academics in North America, Dr Andy Knight, a Fulbright Scholar at Yale University in Connecticut and the University of Alberta in Edmonton, and Dr Rinaldo Walcott, an associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
Both scholars articulated their forecasts in reaction to speculation voiced by Professor Don Marshall, head of the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies; Professor Justin Robinson, an economist and pro-vice chancellor of the Board for Undergraduate Studies at Cave Hill; and Michael Howard, professor emeritus of economics.
As Marshall, Robinson and Howard reportedly saw it, Barbados’ middle class was in jeopardy of further significant erosion as a result of rising inflation, traceable to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and fallout from Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine. Indeed, Marshall was quoted as saying that some members of Barbados’ middle class might be in real danger of being “pauperised”.
Jury ‘still out’
But Dr Knight, a former director of the UWI’s Institute for International Relations, told the Sunday Sun that the jury was “still out”, on the plight of the middle class as its members sought to recover from recent global economic and social challenges.
“It is hard to know without looking at the figures whether or not this is an accurate portrayal of what’s happening to the middle class” in the Caribbean, including Barbados, said Knight, a leading foreign affairs expert who is completing a year of research and collaborations with prominent scholars at Yale University.
“To be fair, the pandemic has had a devastating impact on all people, regardless of the level they are at, whether the upper, middle or lower classes. It has had a devastating impact on our people. How we get out of this we are still not sure,” he said.
“The pandemic is still going on and we have a variance of the COVID-19 pandemic which was causing much difficulty in many areas,” the scholar said. “It is important for us to really take a serious look at what all of this has done to the middle class” in Ba rbados and its Caribbean neighbours.
“The rebounding of the economy, the rebounding of tourism and the rebounding of building back better after the pandemic are probably going to lead to an acceleration in development of the middle class,” he said.
“I think we have to wait and see how this turns out. I don’t think I can agree that somehow the middle class (in Barbados) is eroding in terms of its economic power and political influence,” added Knight. “I will have to see more figures to prove that is the case. Right now I see the middle class as still holding steady and probably will be strengthened
as we put in place more resilient structures, now that the pandemic may be fading away for a lot of people. As long as people don’t pretend that the pandemic has gone (actually) away. “
Getting close
He was quick to say “we are getting close to the end of the pandemic” but Barbados wasn’t quite there yet.
After all, the Caribbean was a “small place”, he insisted.
“I have to see the empirical evidence before deciding whether the middle class was eroding because of the pandemic,” he said. “The Caribbean has been hit hard by multiple vulnerabilities, including climate change. I know there is a need to do some serious analysis about what it means for black and brown people in a region to be tackling massive vulnerabilities and what it does to the economy. We have to look not only at the middle class but at other people too.”
For his part, Walcott, a prominent civil rights advocate in Canada, said that concerns about the middle class were being expressed not simply in Barbados but elsewhere around the world.
“That is a concern that most of the western world has found itself engaged in whether it was in the US, Canada, and Western Europe, France with claims that the middle class is in decline and under significant pressures,” insisted Walcott. “What they never talk about is why. We live in an era when there was “massive, untold, unheardof transfer of wealth to the wealthiest among us. What we don’t hear from governments who talk about the pressures on the middle class is what they are actually going to do to rebalance or to balance out these significant transfers of wealth to the wealthiest among us.”
The Bajan, whose research is in the area of black diaspora cultural studies, gender and sexuality, said that the unanswered question was what governments were going to do about the middle class.
“Governments with their legislative power, what are they going to do? Often governments seem to abdicate from their legislative power to make the kinds of changes and make the kinds of changes in their everyday lives” that would improve conditions facing the middle class, he said. “Don’t forget we are still living out the [President] Ronald Reagan years of trickle-down economics. Now we are living them out globally.”
Source: Nation
MORE MONEY IN THE BANK
Bajans depositing millions despite minuscule interest rates
By Shawn Cumberbatch
shawncumberbatch@nationnews.comBarbadians are still depositing millions of dollars into accounts at commercial banks and other financial institutions despite being paid little to no interest on their savings.
That is based on new data from the Central Bank, which also revealed that while new loans to households have picked up, and more individuals are using their credit cards, most people are shying away from borrowing.
At the end of last year, total deposits at commercial banks, deposit-taking finance and trust companies and credit unions reached $13.6 billion, but three months later at the end of March they had surged by $500 million.
The majority of this, $311.3 million, was in local currency.
Central Bank Governor Cleviston Haynes explained that domestic currency deposits “grew by 2.4 per cent due to Government spending and heightened foreign exchange inflows during the quarter”.
The increased savings growth was also reflected in the balances of Barbadian households, he said, adding that the increased deposits slowed when compared with last year. This was because “domestic consumption picked up and prices increased”.
“Foreign-currency deposits expanded to account for 7.6 per cent of total deposits, above the five per cent share recorded one year earlier. This expansion was largely due to the sale of real estate and increased activity in the tourism sector,” he said.
Haynes said that generally liquidity in the
Source: Central Bank of Barbados.
financial system remained elevated, with banks continuing to maintain substantial excess cash with the Central Bank.
“The growth in excess liquidity slowed over the past year from the preceding 12-month period, but the build-up during the last three months was stronger than that of the first nine months of the fiscal year, due to the Government stimulus and private sector inflows of foreign exchange,” he explained.
With savings increasing, the Governor also reported that “interest rates on deposits and loans remained at historically low levels”.
The increased pace of
saving has generally not been matched by a growing appetite for new loans from banks and credit unions, the Central Bank information showed. This was in relation to borrowing by individuals and companies.
“Credit to the non-financial private sector by deposit-taking institutions remained relatively flat compared to a one per cent decline for the first three months of 2021,” Haynes said.
“On the corporate side, the value of new loan disbursements was one per cent higher than the corresponding period a year earlier but, after accounting for repayments, most sectors, with the exception of construction, manufacturing and real estate, registered declines in credit balances.”
The economist said new lending to households grew at a faster rate than between January and March 2021, with credit card activity increasing with the resumption of travel and economic activity, but repayments continuing to exceed new credit.
“These events resulted in the outstanding credit card balance being just above the value of debt incurred during the period. Mortgage balances also continued to contract, as repayments outweighed the growth in new credit. New bridging loans to households were higher than last year, but overall supply of funds remained weak,” he stated.
Haynes said that overall, the financial system “remained stable during the quarter”.
“Consolidated non-performing loans of the banks and deposit-taking finance and trust companies began to reverse the upward trend experienced in the earlier phases of the pandemic. This improved credit quality reduced provisions and contributed to higher profitability and a strong capital base,” he reported.
Source: Nation
Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) president Edwin O’Neal is serving notice on those he said are seeking to bring the continuity of the association under threat.
Fed raises interest rates by half a percentage point
https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/04/economy/federal-reserve-interest-rate-hike/index.html
“The British multinational automotive firm Inchcape announced Tuesday it had completed the acquisition of the Sir Kyffin Simpson-founded motor dealer and its regional automotive distribution arm, ITC.”
Simpson Motors is now owned by the British.
Perhaps we may see a reintroduction of British made vehicles into the island.
The only locally owned car dealerships in the island are Courtesy Garage and probably Nassco.
@Artax
Another case of looking for a golden handshake at a time there shift in market and Sir Kyffin getting on?
@ David
Remember, on December 2021, FTSE 250 car dealership Inchcape announced it agreed to buy Interamericana Trading Corporation (ITC) and Simpson Motors from the Simpson Group for an undisclosed sum.
New car sales are at an ‘all time low,’ even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
I’ve seen several new vehicles at Courtesy Garage, some that were there since last year. I’m wondering if they’re being as 2022 models. Simpson Motors had a reputation for engaging in that practice.
Perhaps Sir Kyffin decided to take advantage of an opportunity that would see him ‘get out’ of the car sales business, while receiving millions of dollars in the process.
I think he sold SOL as well. So, he definitely has to be one of the richest men in Barbados.
@Artax
Bear in mind Simpsons is a regional player as far as having the agency for Mercedes, Subaru, John Deere and other high value brands.
@ David
Yes, I know.
They owned the Suzuki franchise for the Caribbean region and are the agents for Mitsubishi heavy-duty vehicles, Chrysler, Isuzu, JCB and Bobcat as well.
Barbados Water Authority said, however, that this will not make up the deficit created by the Desalination Plant being offline, so customers in the Lodge Hill to Shop Hill and the Castle Grant systems, including residents along the West Coast and in parts of St James, St Thomas, St Andrew and St Joseph will continue to experience water outages.
Cut in spending
Head of private sector body sees impact of high costs
by COLVILLE MOUNSEY colvillemounsey@nationnews.com
HEAD OF THE Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA), Trisha Tannis, says businesses have already begun to see a reduction in spend from Barbadians due to rising cost of living in the country.
Tannis told the DAILY NATION that due to the fact that the costs of goods are skyrocketing as a result of the external ripple effects of the ongoing war in Ukraine, the current sale of goods locally is suggesting that customers have begun to cut back to just essentials.
“Definitely we are seeing persons being discriminating about their choices and what they are willing to spend their money on. I think like everything else it is going to come down to priority and therefore those sectors that carry commodities that persons can go without, have started to suffer a bit more. We have no choice but to engage in certain activities such as eating and putting gas in our vehicles, but we are seeing a lot more willingness from people to pool resources. It is clear that people are taking steps to conserve their disposable income,” said Tannis.
She also said that the longer the crisis lasts, the greater the risk that jobs could be on the line, although she foresees such a move as a last resort for most entities.
Preserve jobs
“I think that whenever there is a prolonged impact on any particular sector that is negative, there is always the possibility of adjustment. The private sector has always faced some criticism for looking to labour first in terms of the adjustment. However, that is because it is the largest single element
of business operating cost and how you treat to that cost can determine the fortunes of the company. I think what we would do, as we always do, is to encourage companies to preserve jobs as much as we can, to take a look at other operational costs and not just the cost of labour.”
The BPSA head contended that businesses can ill-afford to sit and wait for the exogenous shocks to subside, stressing that steps must be taken now to bring cost down before it gets “to the point that persons cannot afford to live in Barbados”. She therefore called on the business sector to do a thorough check of their systems to determine where wastage and inefficiencies can either be dispensed with or eliminated through technology.
“There is a call nationally to be more productive and efficient. We do need to carve out that wastage which are inherent in our legacy systems and processes. These are contributing to our inflationary cost locally. It is a call for us to challenge a lot of the mindsets that have built our structures over the years. We are going to have to determine whether or not we are going to continue to do things in a way that attract unnecessary cost,” Tannis said.
She added: “Does that mean that there may be an impact on labour at some point in time down the road if we start looking at shifting systems and digitisation of our policies? Yes, it may, but it also means that there are opportunities being created in other types of jobs. Hopefully we can retrain and retool to start to shift jobs from entry level to more intuitive-based roles.”
Tannis warned that these steps needed to be taken sooner rather than later, as the country was facing the very real possibility of prices spiralling out of control.
“So, I don’t think that we can escape this, and we do have to start the conversation nationally because we are at the point now where it is extremely expensive for the average Barbadian to live here. We can’t just keep compounding cost structures on top of inefficiencies, the bubble is going to burst and in fact it is about to burst. We either deflate it or prices spiral out of control to the point that sectors start to collapse,” she said.
Source: Nation News
BARBADOS VOB 92.9 news
DEBIT AND CREDIT CARDS HACKED
The mother country appears to be in a spot of bother.
@ David,
Barbados could learn a lesson from Antigua.
Central Bank designation on big credit union – Central Bank designation on big credit union:
https://barbadostoday.bb/2022/05/06/central-bank-designation-on-big-credit-union/
@ David
Haven’t you realised as yet in his haste to make silly, irrelevant comparisons to portray Barbados in a ‘negative light,’ that guy alawys ‘looks AFTER he leaps?’
Dear Artax,
De economy bad bad. I hope it get better soon.
Signed,
A concerned Bajan
Dear Donna
I used this blog on the economy as an example.
However, in addition to “hoping the economy gets better soon,” perhaps you could offer a suggestion or two on how it could be improved to being “good good.”
Signed,
A concern Barbadian.
Artax,
None that I haven’t given before and that haven’t been given by others more versed in these matters.
Barbados ranks #1 in Caribbean for digital nomads
Article by Barbados Today
Published on
May 6, 2022https://barbadostoday.bb/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Working-remotely-from-home-730×456.jpeg
Barbados is the number one Caribbean destination for executive digital nomads, according to Savills Plc, a United Kingdom real estate agency.
Savills’ Head Office London Director, Paul Tostevin, shared in his blog on April 27, on the company’s website, that as part of its Impacts 2022 programme, an Executive Nomad Rating survey was conducted.
Of the 15 destinations ranked, Barbados placed number one in the Caribbean, and fifth overall, and was noted as having the fastest internet in the Caribbean, an appealing climate, and good air connectivity. The top destination was Lisbon, followed by Miami, United States of America (USA); Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Algarve, Portugal.
The index was based on countries that have a digital nomad visa programme or equivalent, or in the case of the USA and European countries, are already part of a large economic bloc that allows free movement within it. Other criteria assessed included a year-round favourable climate, high quality of life, and a developed luxury housing market.
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, back in July 2020, announced the Welcome Stamp Programme, which seeks to assist in diversifying the island’s tourism product and attract a new type of visitor. The programme also seeks to fill the gap left by decreased tourist arrivals and to generate foreign exchange, and in July 2021, the Remote Employment Amendment Bill was passed.
It allowed for the extension of the existing legislation governing the Welcome Stamp Programme. The Remote Employment Act 2020-2023 allows for persons under the programme to renew their application and pay the relevant fees to live another year in Barbados.
As of March 2022, Barbados received 3,511 applications and approved 2,308 for the programme. Of the 3,511 applications received, 2156 were for the period July to December 2020; 1,011 applications for the year 2021, and 254 up until the end of March this year.
According to the data provided, the top five leading countries seeking entry under the programme are the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, Nigeria, and Ireland.
Of the applications received, 64 per cent were from individuals and 36 per cent from families. A further breakdown of the statistics revealed that 62 per cent of the applicants are male, and 38 per cent are females.
Those approved applicants under the programme have occupations in fields such as Engineering; Health Science; Architecture, Information Technology; Communications; Public Administration; Finance; Education and Training; Law; Distribution and Logistics, and Management.
The recent statistics were compiled by the Research Department, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., with data received from the Barbados Immigration Department. (BGIS)
Fla residents being gifted
DeSantis signs tax ‘holidays,’ gas-tax break
Published:May 6, 2022 6:09 PM EDT
Updated:May 6, 2022 10:50 PM EDT
A series of sales-tax “holidays” on such things as school clothes, hurricane supplies and tools and a suspension of the state gas tax in October topped a package signed into law Friday by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The tax package (HB 7071), passed by the Legislature in March, will reduce state and local revenues by $804.3 million during the upcoming fiscal year, according to a House staff analysis. The total will increase to about $1.1 billion when future impacts are factored in.
Along with holding traditional tax-holiday periods before the school year and as hurricane season starts, the package will eliminate taxes during all or part of the 2022-2023 fiscal year on items including baby clothes, diapers, children’s books, Energy Star appliances, impact-resistant doors and windows, new mobile homes and admissions to Formula One Grand Prix races and the Daytona 500.
“This bill comes at an opportune time, as families grapple with the rising costs of everyday expenses like gas, food and clothing,” Department of Children and Families Secretary Shevaun Harris said during an appearance with DeSantis in Ocala. “I know that every penny saved counts.”
State leaders touted that the election-year package will help consumers.
“The tax relief you’re going to see are going to be breaks for really critical needs, like gas, diapers, disaster supplies, tools for skilled trades, recreational activities, you name it,” DeSantis said. “And, so, families are going to be able to save for things that really matter for them.”
Hundreds applying for cruise jobs
Hundreds of Barbadians are not letting the opportunity to work on a cruise liner pass them by.
Managing director of Trinity Recruitment Services Inc., Judeen Scantlebury, said people from various backgrounds were seeking jobs being offered by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.
“Right now we have a request for 400 jobs from Royal Caribbean and the management of that cruise line is scheduled to come to Barbados soon to do a final assessment of the candidates we are currently screening,” she told the Sunday Sun at her business in Mall 34, The City.
There are positions in administration, cleaning, finance, guest services, payroll, media and accounting and senior positions, Scantlebury said.
“They are good-paying jobs. Salaries start from US$900 and it goes up and based on your experience your salary would be higher. So it gives good options to Barbadians and all Caribbean nationals if they choose to come and sign up. Contracts are eight to nine months’ with two months vacation and we are looking to get people starting from as early as June 2022.”
Last month, Minister of Tourism and International Transport Senator Lisa Cummins and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Michael Bayley, signed a memorandum of understanding that will see hundreds of Barbadians securing jobs with that cruise line.
Scantlebury said this was a great opportunity for people who were finding difficulty landing a job or wanted to get new work experience.
“When you start you are going to the country where the ship is in port and Royal Caribbean is paying for your airfare, refunding you for money spent on medicals and to get your United States visa.
Screening
“This has been the first week of screening and
the response has been extremely overwhelming. Every day we have gotten consistent applicants for all areas.
Within a day we have been screening close to 100 people from all walks of life and different backgrounds – from professionals to entry-level people. We have until May 13 for screening as afterwards the cruise ship managers will come and do their assessments.”
She added that many people were having challenges making ends meet.
“What we are seeing as well is the desperation of employment. People are really in overwhelming situations where as many as five or more people are living in a household and only one person is working. Those people can’t make commitments on payments.
“So I am very glad that as a brand we have the opportunity to help people in this trying time and give Barbadians a chance to be employed. Some of the stories we hear are very disheartening and sad, and in many instances so far it seems we are the last option of hope for some people,” she said.
Royal Caribbean is giving this employment opportunity to Barbados as a sign of goodwill. During the global lockdowns, Barbados opened its port to cruise ships and assisted with staff being able to fly out to their respective home countries. (SB)
Source: Nation
HARDEST HIT
Bajans most taxed in English-speaking Caribbean
By Shawn Cumberbatch shawncumberbatch@nationnews.comBarbadians are paying more taxes than anyone else in the Englishspeaking Caribbean, an international study has found.
Revenue Statistics In Latin America And The Caribbean 1990-2020 concluded that only Cuba (37.5 per cent) had a higher tax-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio than Barbados (35.2 per cent) among 27 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
However, economist Dr Simon Naitram said it was“not much use looking just at how much tax we pay without looking at how much public services we get access to”.
He said Barbadians would have to determine what was more important to them – lower taxes or continued access to public services paid for by Government.
But his fellow University of the West Indies (UWI) economics lecturer Dr Ankie Scott-Joseph believes “there is scope to reduce taxation”, though not without difficulty.
“Changes in economic circumstances require changes in tax rates and structure. If the Government wants to achieve its economic objectives and encourage savings and investments, it must cut taxes,” she told the Sunday Sun.
She suggested Government balance both sides of its fiscal operations by comparing the burden on taxpayers with the benefits Barbadians were gaining from the public purse.
The joint publication of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations, and Inter-American Development Bank reported that “with the exceptions of Barbados and Cuba, all Latin America and the Caribbean countries recorded a tax-to-GDP ratio below the OECD average of 33.5 per cent”.
“For three countries, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and El Salvador, nominal tax revenues fell by less than nominal GDP between 2019 and 2020, leading to an increase in their tax-to-GDP ratio,” the analysis stated Scott-Joseph suggested that any tax cuts Government made “should be directed as far as possible towards stimulating new consumer spending and/or new business investment in the short run”.
“The problem with this approach, however, is that the options for tax cuts are limited to payroll or income taxes, and import and excise duties,” she said.
“Together, these categories
account for approximately 40 per cent of tax revenues and are closely linked to VAT, which also represents 40 per cent of total tax revenue. Any adjustment to these taxes will have an indirect, long-run impact on the VAT revenues, among others.”
Her view was that lowering income/ payroll tax would induce more work effort, saving and investment.
Scott-Joseph added that “if import and excise duties are reduced, larger revenues could be collected, because the cost of production and price of goods and services would fall, savings and consumption demand will increase, and so too will the production and investment activities of the economy”.
She also explained that “shifting the burden away from payroll/income tax and import and excise duties may only be effective when these taxes and the reform themselves are well-designed and the Government makes strategic decisions to ensure its spending is efficient and productive”.
Naitram said the matter was a complex one of priorities and tradeoffs for taxpayers and Government. “Of course there’s still the question of whether revenue is spent efficiently, but if you really want to reduce taxes, you would have to limit the provision of public services.
Former UWI economics lecturer Professor Michael Howard agreed Barbados was “a very heavily taxed society”.
He linked it to Barbados’ use of the Scandinavian countries’ Nordic welfare model, which relied on heavy taxation for the provision of extensive free social services like health and education but was now unsustainable; Government’s need to finance the “very large” public sector; the imposing of new taxes to reduce tax evasion and non-compliance; and international factors such as the fluctuations in the price of petroleum.
Source: Nation
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