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)
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Recession over Central Bank governor cautiously optimistic
BY DEFINITION Barbados is now out of a recession, but Central Bank Governor Cleviston Haynes is in no mood to celebrate.
Not when the economy still has not returned to its pre-COVID-19 levels, and the war in Ukraine is a major threat to future growth and threatens to increase the cost of living in Barbados.
Haynes was therefore cautiously optimistic yesterday while reporting first quarter economic growth of 11.8 per cent and predicting doubledigit growth for 2022.
“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.”
Haynes told his first quarter press conference at the Courtney Blackman Grande Salle that the 11.8 per cent economic growth
recorded between January and March was in line with the bank’s forecast, and he was comforted by the fact that the predicted tourist arrivals “were just about exactly as we had forecast”.
“The positive signs of a robust economic recovery, as witnessed during the last nine months of 2021, were sustained into the first quarter of the year. A re-emerging tourism sector helped to propel the growth momentum and to stabilise the labour market which registered a low level of jobless claims. However, despite the gains, activity is not yet at pre-COVID levels,” he said.
“The recovery was driven by the vibrant revival of the tourism sector, which helped to bolster private sector spending. In addition, there were also encouraging signs of an upturn in the production of goods for export markets.”
Tourism
The governor said tourism, the country’s main money earner, “built on the performance of the last quarter of 2021, as pent-up demand for travel translated into the highest level of long-stay arrivals since the onset of the pandemic”.
Additionally, agricultural production increased in the first quarter despite the increased cost of feeds and fertilisers, and manufacturing output increased by 5.4 per cent in the same period.
This was attributed to “the boost in domestic demand created by the relaxation of COVID-19 health protocols, the impact of improved tourism on demand for locally-produced beverages, and the partial recovery of exports”.
Despite the economy having grown for the fourth consecutive quarter, Haynes said that “it’s really the uncertainty that pervades at this point in time that is our concern”.
This was especially in relation to price increases associated with the war in Ukraine.
The governor said that “during the quarter, food prices rose by four per cent but, over the preceding nine months, significant increases for vegetables, meats, oils and fats, and seafood led to the acceleration of prices over the 12-month period”.
“The longer the conflict and the more severe the sanctions, etcetera, on Russia, the more likely it is that prices, whether for oil or for international foods, could increase,” he said.
“And if that happens, that obviously has a domestic impact because [as] a small open economy that imports a lot of what we consume, we will then be importing those elevated prices and therefore that would have an impact on the domestic cost of living.”
There could also be negative impacts for tourism, he explained.
“It could be that persons decide, well, they are not going other places and they are going to look for warm destinations such as in the Caribbean and we could benefit in that context. But there is also the risk that persons decide to stay closer to home because of the uncertainty and therefore not travel,” Haynes said. ( SC)
Source: Nation
Haynes: Pay rise a trade-off
CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR Cleviston Haynes is not ruling out a salary increase for public sector workers, but he says it must be based on Government’s ability to pay and its financial priorities.
Haynes also believes that given the possibility that a Government pay hike could influence wage demands in the private sector, Barbados’ competitiveness against other countries was another factor to consider.
He was speaking to the media yesterday after his first quarter press conference at the Courtney Blackman Grande Salle.
“In the context of Government, and in businesses generally, pay increases are related to the ability to pay, and therefore if you have a wage increase, it also means that you have to make a judgement as to what you are going to forego,” Haynes said.
“It’s not a free good, so there are choices that would have to be made.
“I think right now the Government is trying to place emphasis on accelerating its capital works programme and the whole purpose of that is to generate more economic activity and in so doing to create jobs, get more people involved.
“So if you take your decision to increase wages, you do run the risk that you have to postpone something else, and obviously that’s a judgement which a Minister of Finance has to make. We central bankers don’t make those judgements,” he said.
Haynes also pointed to the “broader issue that one has to look at in terms of what is happening with your competitors, because when you obviously raise the cost of wages, does that spill over into the private sector?”
“Does it make them less
competitive with the countries against which they are competing? You are not in a country by yourself but you are competing with the rest of the world, so the whole question of competitiveness is the other issue that one will have to look at,” he said.
“But I think the fundamental issue is going to be one of choice, as to if this is what persons are asking for, then you need to identify where you are going to find the savings to be able to effect it.”
The governor cautioned against creating a situation where “our expenditures are such that we are not able to honour our obligations because we have spent too much and then you don’t have the funding. So it’s a balancing act”.
Haynes acknowledged that cost of living increases had reduced the spending power of workers, adding: “I am sure that everybody would want to see some relief if prices are rising but I think one has to look at the big picture and make that determination.” (SC)
Source: Nation
Barbados to start repaying IMF in September
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.
However, while he declined to say if he thought Barbados should remain in an IMF programme, Central Bank Governor Cleviston Haynes said Government would have to keep focused on a disciplined approach to its financial management, including debt.
In December, the IMF’s executive board approved an immediate $48 million disbursement to Barbados after directors approved its staff’s sixth review of the External Fund Facility Barbados entered in October 2018. This brought to $850 million the amount of IMF funding Government received since then.
Repayment
Speaking yesterday during his first quarter press conference at the Courtney Blackman Grande Salle, Haynes said repayment of the loans was likely to start in 2023.
“I think it’s after the first four and a half years when the first payment becomes due and that’s the sort of standard thing because all of the payments are not drawn down at once. So it is from four and a half years from the time of the draw down, so I think . . . 2023 is when the first payment probably starts,” he said.
Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Mia Amor Mottley said during her March 14 Budget speech that her administration was undecided about remaining in an IMF programme, and would determine if it would after consultation.
Haynes said the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation programme, which the IMF EFF supported,
made early progress before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in 2020 and the authorities were now trying to build on the previous successes.
“What you see Government doing is trying to accelerate its capital expenditure programme, which together with the recovery in tourism is pointing us towards the increased economic activity which we know,” he said.
“The work that we have started was somewhat incomplete, what we have been able to do, however, is we have been able to build our reserves, and . . . we have gone from four or five weeks in 2018 to over 36 weeks as we speak at the end of March.”
Decision
The governor was, however, not prepared to declare his hand on if Barbados should continue under the IMF’s supervision.
“As the Prime Minister indicated during her Budgetary Statement, this is really a decision for the Prime Minister, I wouldn’t want to usurp her authority in terms of whether we go back into a Fund programme. I believe that she will consider all of the advice in relation to that and make a determination as to whether or not we need to go,” he said.
“The issue for me is not about whether you go into a Fund programme, the issue is about . . . the policies that you are going to implement, whether you are in a Fund programme or whether you are not in a Fund programme. And, from my perspective, we cannot go back to a scenario of large fiscal balances that we are unable to support.”
Haynes also said that “at some point we have to be able to demonstrate that we are able to manage our own affairs without having to be in [an IMF] programme”. (SC)
Source: Nation
Barbados and Ghana sign air services MOU
THE SIGNING OF an Air Services confidential memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Barbados and the Republic of Ghana has been described as “strengthening historical ties”.
The virtual signing occurred yesterday between Barbados’ Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Senator Lisa Cummins, and Ghana’s Minister of Transport and Aviation, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah.
The air services MOU between the two countries will promote bilateral aviation relations and expand economic opportunities for their designated airlines, and the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. will be working to ensure that it becomes a commercially viable venture.
Minister Cummins, before the signing of the MOU, emphasised: “We are serious about building the strong relationship that already exists between our two countries, as seen between our two respective leaders.”
She added that the signing of the MOU is also part of the “process of working towards building stronger collaborative links between Barbados and Ghana, specifically in the areas of tourism cooperation, cultural travel, and heritage tourism”.
Minister Asiamah concurred, stating: “I think that it is well overdue that Ghana and Barbados should begin to strengthen the historical ties, and I think the relationship that was built by our president Addo and your Prime Minister is something worth recognition….
“And I’m hoping that this relationship will not end at the signing of this MOU but rather guide all of us to make sure that we need to work together so that our nations can strengthen our relationship through trade, through whatever means possible, because history tells us that there’s no difference between the people of Barbados and people of this country.”
Barbados’ Chargé d’affaires at the High Commission in Accra, Ghana, Juliette Babb-Riley, accepted the physically signed MOU from Minister Asiamah on behalf of the Government of Barbados. (BGIS)
Source: Nation
Caricom debt too high, says Barnett
THE CARIBBEAN’S public sector’s financing gap and its external debt are continuing to grow beyond unsustainable levels.
The warning came from Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat Dr Carla Barnett in delivering an online lecture Tuesday on the topic Sustained Economic Recovery Post-Pandemic: The Lewis Model.
In presenting the
Sir Arthur Lewis Distinguished Lecture, Dr Barnett said CARICOM states experienced significant GDP (gross domestic product) losses in 2020 and 2021 associated with COVID-19.
“The public sector financing gap, estimated at around US$5 billion in early 2021, and the external debt are therefore continuing to grow beyond unsustainable levels,” she said.
“By the end of 2020, six CARICOM states had reported a debt-to-GDP ratio above 100, as compared to one member state in 2019.”
The Caribbean experienced higher levels of unemployment than other regions, with women the hardest hit by job cuts and bearing an even heavier burden of care work at home and in the health system, the secretary general stated.
“Private capital flows to most CARICOM states have also declined considerably since 2019,” the economist added.
Barnett said CARICOM governments would continue to spend to manage COVID amid new strains that have emerged.
“I submit we can draw
from the Lewis model insights that are relevant to the CARICOM development process . . ..”
At the top of her list was “ the proactive role of regional integration in building self-sufficiency and resilience”.
Second was “the importance of harnessing technology to modernise the agriculture sector and scaling up of agri-food production to ensure food security”.
Third was “the critical role of capital, both foreign and domestic in driving growthenhancing structural transformation”.
Fourth was “the importance of increasing domestic savings to finance investment and by extension the importance of enhanced regional resource mobilisation”.
Fifth was “the status of direct participant in economic activity and as a facilitator. That is the importance of state capacity”. And sixth was “creating a highlyskilled labour force to drive productivity”.
Sir Arthur Lewis, a Nobel Prize winner in economics, was the first vice chancellor of the University of the West Indies and first president of the Caribbean Development Bank. (HH)
Source: Nation
If an economy “ grew “by 11% and still has not returned to 2019 levels, what does it really mean ?
So are you telling me that a person who was four feet tall in 2019 and in 2022 grew to be six feet but is still not four feet tall , Interesting : talk about the use and abuse of statistics………………..
And foolish me always thought that growth meant it is actually more than it was before but ………………..
Mr Skinnerif the economy grew by 11 percent would that not be in comparison to the previous year? The previous year cannot be 2019.You should know better but you overseas gloom and doomerd just looking for any negativity to nitpick on.It seems any goog news in Barbados angers you.Your party lost two electioms 30 to 0 and are vurrently struggling to even elect s president.Grow up and deal with that reality.The majority of bajans here on the ground has congidence in the current government to pull this country around despite you overseas daily nitpicking.I gone.
Steupsss
From back in Arthur’s time, we knew (because Owen told us in one of his sober moments) that we were headed up shit street.
He warned about the NEED to live within our means..
He also warned us about the Supreme Leader…
Then came..
CLICO
Froon
IMF
COVID
Volcano ash
Hurricane
Vaccines
inter alia.
..but Haynes is ‘cautiously optimistic’….
Can anyone point to any economic predictions made by the Governor in the past that actually turned into reality?
Asking for a friend, but Bushie smells BS strongly…
Clearly the post holder has been instructed to ‘sound positive’, least the Brass Bowls realize their imminent fate…
What point is there after all, in explaining to black belly sheep (BBS) the true purpose behind the ‘field trip’ to the Abattoir?
@Bush Tea
Sadly our economic fundamentals are flawed. It does not take much acumen to workout our level of consumption behaviour is unsustainable based on the economic model we have relied on over the years with little change by present day decision makers.
TRUE!
But David, that is NOT the elephant in the room.
Can you explain how it can POSSIBLY be, that our economic fundamentals are so CLEARLY flawed, and yet these ‘educated’ officials can CONSTANTLY be standing up on TV with straight faces talking a lotta shiite about our great ‘prospects’ …?
What does THAT say about their CONTEMPT for the intelligence of Bajans?
Bushie STRONGLY feels that these people get together privately after these ‘presentations’ and roll all over the floor ‘laffing their asses off’ at how gullible Bajan brass bowls ACTUALLY are….
In a TRULY educated society, Haynes would be FORCED to come with PRACTICAL assessments of our current REALITY, and to then prescribe SENSIBLE proposals to reverse the trend towards damnation….
The ONLY explanation (that makes any sense to Bushie) to how a whole country could be so damn foolish, is the ‘CURSE’….
Bushie told wunna to dig up that shiite monument that Froon planted at the Garrison…. The Alter to Satan, with the black pitch fork coming out of the earth….
Leff unm dey and see how things will work out…..
@Bush Tea
It takes courage (will power) to decouple from a comfortable way of thinking. In our system the citizenry as a key stakeholder in civil society have ceded its important role to the First Estate.
LOL @ David
Boss, it takes WISDOM to decouple from comfort towards PRACTICALITY…
What takes ‘courage’ is to continue along a path that CLEARLY leads to chaos, crises and destruction….
Or at least it takes idiotic bravado
William Skinner April 28, 2022 6:51 AM #: “So are you telling me that a person who was four feet tall in 2019 and in 2022 grew to be six feet but is still not four feet tall…..”
Mr. Skinner
Your above example is flawed. You cannot in all seriousness compare economic growth with growth in “a person.”
In simple terms, an economy can grow positively or negatively……. not a human being.
An individual continues to grow during a recession, an economy does not.
The economy could have grown by 11% when compared to the same period in 2021, but not to the level it was in 2019 or pre COVID-19.
This is something John A has been discussing on BU for several months.
Will leave this link for Vincent and Artax to explain if we should worry about lag factors effecting Barbados economy.
An interesting read to contextualize a discussion about domestic economy. Despite missteps at the local level we must also understand the challenges when placed in a global context.
@ Artax
It’s a matter of interpretation. The bench mark was introduced by the Governor of the Central Bank. Not me. He referenced 2019 not me. Growth means growth whether you are talking about a person or a tree.
This is the same crap for which the former Governor of the Central Bank was viciously attacked on this same BU.
Haynes is twisting the truth. This economy is not improving and the prospects of any improvement is being seriously affected by inferior political gymnastics and propaganda being engineered by the Minister of Finance, who has no time to address the country about her administration’s plan for the economy.
What goes around comes around. I was the only person on BU who said that Worrell ,was like Blackman posited , a creature of the Minister of Finance.
We are now trying to paint Haynes with a different brush because it is politically expedient .
This economy is heading toward the shambles whether we want to admit it or not. The Minister of Finance is sending out handpicked consultants to cover her backside.
At least Sinckler took the lashes upfront.
And now his mismanagement of the economy is being embraced and validated by the same politician ( Mottley) who called him the worst finance minister we ever had.
More to come bro’
The final paragraph from the link posted. The national conversation needs to be boated about what has become boring routinely politically flavored discussions.
“Market behavior—including its failure to include the indirect costs of goods and services, to value nature’s services, and to respect sustainable-yield thresholds—is leading to the destruction of the economy’s natural support systems, our own version of a Ponzi scheme. At some point the deteriorating relationship between the economy and its natural supports begins to take a political toll, contributing to state failure.”
@David Economic news from the U.S this morning. The Fed hasn’t even started to raise rates yet.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/04/28/us-q1-gdp-growth.html
@wargeneral
The US maybe tottering on the brink of a recession, the outlook appears to be challenging if not bleak. Again a national discussion and fit for purpose strategic approach is a must even at this late stage.
@William Skinner 8:49am
Amen.
David, the US Federal Reserve has been printing money at break neck speed for the last 13 years which kept interest rates very low. What has enabled them to do this with little damage is the fact that people and central banks around the world have held the U.S dollar as the main reserve currency. This has now been undermined by the recent Russia sanctions, sanctions on Venezuela, Iran and Afghanistan (the U.S seized or stole Afghanistans foreign reserves earlier this year.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-02-13/biden-s-decision-on-afghanistan-s-7-billion-in-foreign-reserves-is-cruel The over use of sanctions coupled with excessive money printing may leave the U.S vulnerable some day, its simply an issue of supply and demand.
@wargeneral
This is the tenor of conversation local taking heads in the media should be depositing in public space. We have to ‘retrofit’ how we manage our affairs with the urgency of now. We have an obligation to future generations.
@Walter Blackman
There is an important role for you to play.
The President of the World Bank recently explained that the strategy by G20 is to boost global supply and recommend member countries ring fenced the vulnerable in society to respond to challenge posed by Russia Ukraine conflict. What is sobering about his intervention is that it is predicated on shoring up the existing financial model.
@David, I think the solution lies in looking East. I feel that Barbados and Caricom needs to furthur deepen trade ties with Africa, partner more with China, which is already happening, I think Mia signed on to belt and road in 2019, and deepen trade ties with India and the Middle East. Come up with a national and regional strategy to ensure food security, and come up with equity financing options for risk takers in society so they can take more risks in areas like Fintech, The Ocean economy and Renewable energy for example.
I also think that the Central Bank of Barbados need to start shifting some of its reserves from the U.S dollar to Gold.
@wargeneral
Shifting to gold will come with repercussions given PM Mottley’s alliance with so-called western establishment. What about the parity of the BB dollar?
@David That is something that would have to be done gradually.
A question asked of the governor asked the question if Barbados was out of a recession
The governor instead of coming clean with a yes or no response put on a political hat stating he does not like labels being put on the economy
Now a reading absent of a direct answer from the governor one political investigator writes an article with a defining and a definite Yes about the recession
Recessions are tantamount and derived and activated in many variables of an economy would be far fetched and some what devious for any economist looking at the state of small islands economies to espoused a smoke and mirror statement.that Barbados recession is over especially when the negative effects of the global economy impact small.island economies and ongoing
Govt still has to find ways of generating faster revenue outside of borrowing and tourist spend
BTW it would be of interest to know how much tourist spend was applied to govt revenue
Unfortunately absent of an opposition govt can say anything which pleases the ears
…and there is no opposition precisely because your above RAMBLING mumbo jumbo is typical of the DLP jackasses who presented themselves as potential representatives…. after demonstrating a decade of incompetence despite their ‘certificates’…
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…
…and perhaps some REALLY intelligent (but currently relegated to the block) gem would have been identified by the system to represent the people.
We made a shiite bed, now we have to lay down somewhere….
William Skinner April 28, 2022 8:49 AM #: “Growth means growth whether you are talking about a person or a tree.”
@ Mr. Skinner
Who “introduced the benchmark” or “referenced 2019” is irrelevant.
The fact remains your comparison of economic growth with growth in human beings is flawed.
Whereas growth in a human is consistent until he/she ‘stops growing,’ economic growth fluctuates.
And, as far as I can recall, ALL Governors of the Central Bank have been ACCUSED of LYING or INCOMPETENCE.
From Dr. Kurleigh King, Calvin Springer, Winston Cox, Dr. Marion Williams to Dr. DeLisle Worrell.
Do you recall when former PM fired Mr. Cox?
However, I believe Cleviston Hanyes is given a ‘free pass’ by the independent economists, Barbados Economic Society and the media.
angela cox April 28 2022 10:20 AM #: “Recessions are tantamount and derived and activated in many variables of an economy….”
@ ac
A recession is simply a period of negative economic growth for two consecutive quarters.
Liars figure and figures lye.
Also Liat just announced direct flights to Ghana.
Bush Tea the only mumbojumbo up.in here is u yuh ole goat with yuh repetitive mumbo jumbo brass bowl insulting tripe
Interesting news item petrol dealers have not seen a decrease in sales since hike in rates. Here it is the blogmaster expected differently with increase sales in bicycles and businesses aggressively adopting remote working born out of pandemic experience.
Good news were out of recession …..bad news were going into hard times
@lawson
As Artax commented ‘out of recession’ is a sterile economic measure. An intelligent person must sensible translation to what it means. What is does not mean is that the economy has recovered from the abyss where it has been lodged for a couple decades.
Your right David it is not a barometer of how people are feeling about their overall life style Just a definition
@ William
@ Artax
Guys lets look at it another way then. Let’s say you had a shop that sold $10000 a day in 2019. Then in 2020 sales fell to $7000, they then recovered in 2021 to $8000 a day, what would be the reality we could argue in 2022?
William is say we ain’t saying nothing as we still have not recovered to 2019 sales which is true.
Artax is also correct in that the economy has recovered steadily from 2020 levels in 2021, even though it has not gotten back to 2019 levels yet.
So we are showing economic recovery but how relevant is it should be our argument. To answer that we can only compare it to other economies. May of the world economies have recovered to pre covid levels, yet may of the smaller ones are still lagging behind. We will lag behind because we are basically dependant on tourism. So while many of our source markets may have recovered that doesn’t mean mass travel to us will occur at the same time. It will lag behind as travel can not take precident over catching up on mortgage payments and car loans by potential tourist.
2022 however is a year if all goes well, that we should get closer to 2019 levels. Providing of course covid doesn’t blow up again or the war intensify. Personally I am what you would call cautiously optimistic and that is the best I can be.
The question will remain however is this. Is the glass half empty or half full? That can only be answered by the person viewing the glass.
There is a recession looming on the US economy. There was economic decline in the first quarter of this year. We must watch this. The indication from the governor or the Central Bank
may be be short lived in terms of Barbados getting out of the woods if the US economy falters.
Heather that is true but we had a good winter season this year compared to 2021 so with that in the bag we have a shot at getting closer to pre covid economic levels. I agree with you though as the next few months could go either way.
Mr Skinner where is your evidence that the economy is not improving or in shambles?You are an economist now?I know this is what you overseas bajans wish to happen but it will not.Who cares about what happen to former governors if it wss warranted especially the last one.Lastly if i had to trust the word of the current govenor of the central bank and a knowall like you guess which one i will believe.I gone.
@Heather
The Governor couched his language by saying the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine if protracted will derail current growth trajectory. Please refer to an earlier point made to @lawson. For the sake of a more relevant discussion we need to improve our economic fundamentals; we need to urgently shift our over reliance on the hospitality sector.
If the economy was worth x in 2019 before COVID and during COVID fell to 25% of x by year end 2021 then if it grew by 11% of the 25% of x then compared with 2019 the economy must be worth 1.11×0.25 of x …
…. or it is worth 27.75 of what it was worth in 2019.
Is my math right?
Once we opened for business in the Tourist sector the economy would grow but clearly it did not grow by that much and remains way below what it was in 2019, pre Covid.
Artax
@ac
A recession is simply a period of negative economic growth for two consecutive quarters
Xxxxxx
Tell that to the Governor who placed political economic politics against the back drop of reality 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
… no wonder Cleviston always wears a frown on his face.
… and the tourist season officially ended on 15 April!!!
@Skinner, of course “It’s a matter of interpretation” economic reviews always are. Why is the matter of growing 11% over the previous year but NOT reaching the levels of output for a prior year a matter of contention???
That’s simply understandable in any business and should need no deep explanation beyond the obvious so the governor can’t be accused of “twisting the truth” on that statement alone🤣. How so brother! … maybe he is indeed painting as rosy a picture as is possible but then again which government official in his role would NOT be expected to do exactly that !
Barbados suffered like all other nations and our GDP took a shellacking over last two years … thanks to some innovative ‘Welcoming Stamping’ and with other business slowly coming back we recaptured some revenue which got us that 11% uptick over the previous year but which was well below the revenues pre-Covid … why is that propaganda and why are you suggesting that the govt is masking real downturns in the economy when you say “the economy is not improving and the prospects of any improvement is being seriously affected by inferior political gymnastics“?
You may be right as I have not studied any of the reports but please clarify why you are so confident that this is all a sham. Is there no real growth as suggested by the officials? Are the ridiculously large cabinet salaries, supa-sized consultancies, administrative travel etc too big a drag?
Why so pessimistic!
Wasn’t the Haynes a dlp/scinkler appointment?
@ John April 28, 2022 3:22 PM
Sir John, please ease up on ‘poor’ Cleviston and about his ‘looks’.
He is just a spitting product of the father of the Miller clan of the supermarket business.
What you should be querying is the ‘current’ status of those private sector ‘investment’ projects which the same guv has been promising since his appointment.
Why has he stopped shining that light in the investment pipeline so that Bajans can see the end of the 5-year long tunnel?
Where is the mention of the likes of the Four Seasons restart or even the Hyatt soon-coming erection?
Maybe your friends “Enuff, John2, & Lorenzo” can shed some light on those missing in action (MIA) projects promoted as the SOS to the Bajan economy which have now morphed into mere mirages in the eyes of the previous Guv called De-liar.
Based on his pronounced prognostications on the economy, as reproduced below, can we conclude that- as a result of pending rises in sea levels- he has switched his Hobson’s choice hobby horse from the DLP conceived hotel investment projects to that of the more realistic BDLP-owned renewable energy investment sector to save Barbados from inundation; both economic and geophysical?
(Quote):
Continued investment in renewable energy will help to address the negative effects of volatile oil prices and to improve competitiveness. Accelerating implementation, is now crucial, taking advantage of the liquidity in the banking system. In addition, we must bolster our competitiveness by lowering the cost of doing business, increasing our output and improving our turnaround times. The path towards sustained growth requires a strong partnership with all stakeholders, a commitment to innovate and improved performance by everyone. Both public and private sectors, including small and medium-sized enterprises, will need the support of money and capital markets to support this innovation. This path is quite attainable if we continue to pull together in the country’s interest.
(Unquote).
The signing of an Air Services confidential memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Barbados and the Republic of Ghana has been described as “strengthening historical ties”.
https://www.nationnews.com/2022/04/28/barbados-signs-air-services-mou-ghana/
The blogmaster invites you to join and add value to the discussion.