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60 Love Can Lose

It would be remiss of the blogmaster if the yesterday’s 2022 Grenada general election was not highlighted in this space. Keith Mitchell’s New National Party (NNP) won consecutive general elections in 2013 and 2018. The Mia Mottley led Barbados Labour Party (BLP) won consecutive general elections in 2018 and 2022. Today the Prime Minister of…

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It would be remiss of the blogmaster if the yesterday’s 2022 Grenada general election was not highlighted in this space. Keith Mitchell’s New National Party (NNP) won consecutive general elections in 2013 and 2018. The Mia Mottley led Barbados Labour Party (BLP) won consecutive general elections in 2018 and 2022. Today the Prime Minister of Grenada is 44 year old Dikcon Mitchell who led the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to office based on preliminary reporting 9 seats to 6. To his credit 75 year old Keith Mitchell won his seat.

Another example of the people expressing its will in a democracy. Time will tell if the NDC is able to satisfy people expectation or another case of shuffling chairs on the deck of the Titanic. It exposes Mia Mottley and the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) should NOT take its unprecedented mandate for granted. Less than a year into a second term and there is growing discontentment from Barbadians largely because of increasing harsh economic conditions brought on by negative movements in the external market. The main political opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP) – not dissimilar to the NDC – is led by a new young Dr. Ronnie Yearwood. In fact Dickon Mitchell was invited to speak at the DLP’s Extraordinary Conference on 1 May 2022. The win should help to inspire Yearwood and his team to what is possible. 

Some of us recognise the winning of a general election does not translate to manna from heaven, although it relieves concerns about a threat to ‘democracy’ by becoming a de facto one party state. Grenada like Barbados is a small island developing state which makes the job of governing for any government a challenge.

In the case of Mottley and Barbados one suspects if Yearwood is able to present a set of believable plans for Barbados and surround himself with a tean that is perceived as credible, who knows what is possible next election round. The recent decision by the Barbados government to borrow $256 million is not resonating well with the public. In theory many Barbados may understand we need to fix roads and attend to physical infrastructure BUT at what price. The debt stock of Barbados is north of 13 billion!

The blogmaster will continue to retreat to a position some do not accept. Citizens must continue find ways to agitate against our governments – to hold feet to fire. Politicians are in the business of popularity even if it comes at the expense of the people who elected them.

265 responses to “60 Love Can Lose”

  1. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    merrily we roll along, roll along, roll along.

    ” Concrete block manufacturers across Barbados are between a rock and a hard place as they struggle to supply the heightened demands of an emerging building boom.”

    doan have to read fuh wunna.

  2. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    Faced with a $2 billion economic contraction and related $600 million fall in revenue, Government would have found it “completely impossible” to finance Barbados’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic without borrowing more money from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and others.

    Now having taken on the increased financial burden, the IMF and other key players in the international community need to give Barbados and other countries the room to more easily manage the debt related to COVID-19.

    Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs Ryan Straughn made this clear yesterday as he defended Government against criticisms that the country’s debt had ballooned under the current administration’s stewardship

  3. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    “need to give Barbados and other countries the room to more easily manage the debt related to COVID-19”
    This has been the plan all along. Guilting loan owners into debt forgiveness. Appreciate all these figurehead loan agency top dawgs, it isn’t THEIR money.
    And it is a good time. For otherwise, the “west” haven’t had this many lame duck leaders, all at once, in a long time, if ever. A fact Putin understands well.

  4. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    Given recent new goings on….they are DEFINITELY out of their depth no matter how they run around the international arena…, but now out of debt…..let see how FAR they are willing to take this before the IMPLOSION…

  5. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    but NOT out of debt…OR..

    .i won’t hold my breath for the or…

  6. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    The lovers of 60-0 gone quiet
    Any port for a storm
    Mouths shut tight
    S Barbados heads done a seismic course of economic disater

  7. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    All that money govt pumped into the Chinese economy to build houses should have been spent at home increasing employment
    Barbados and across the regions has carpenters masons and many craftsmans
    But No Mia decides to pull a political rabbit our of her hat sending millions of dollars all the way to China
    Now the question all.wants to.know is how and who will.pay the debt

  8. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Interesting.

    https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/a-glass-of-ocean-water-quebec-company-wins-award-for-desalination-technology

  9. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    Debt covered
    GREENIDGE SAYS NO ISSUES REPAYING IMF
    By Emmanuel Joseph
    The Senior Economic Advisor to the Government is reassuring Barbadians that the country does not have a debt problem.
    “Even with modest growth production, we will be able to pay back all of our debt. We have no debt problem,” Dr Kevin Greenidge told Barbados TODAY this morning.
    In fact, in dismissing the concerns about the ability to meet repayment obligations, Dr Greenidge noted: “Unless Government stops taking revenues…even right now, we have enough reserves at the Central Bank to cover, not just the IMF repayment, but all external debt about 10 times over.”
    Dr Greenidge said that while the $870 million that was borrowed from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may seem like massive debt, it literally breaks down to less than one cent in every revenue dollar this year and four cents at the height of the payback period in 2026.
    He was responding to assertions of retired Head of the Department of Economics at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus, Professor Emeritus Michael Howard who told Barbados TODAY on Tuesday that the Mia Mottley Administration had placed the country in a debt trap that will be difficult to get out of in the foreseeable future.
    Professor Howard suggested that Government needed to come clean about the real level of its spending and debt, arguing that its forecast for settling the $815 million debt to the fund by 2027 was unrealistic.
    But today, Dr Greenidge said he wants to make sure Barbadians are not given the wrong impression and cause panic and fear over the issue.
    “Debt is not an issue for Barbados right now. As long as we continue to manage our debt and borrow responsibly and put it into productive things, it is not a problem,” said the economist. He is contending that Barbadians need to have the issue put in context, instead of persons simply focusing on the debt figure.
    He said that based on the average interest rate of one per cent, “the IMF money is the cheapest money in town” and the loan is well within the country’s ability to settle.
    “Howard said paying back [over] $800 million [by 2027] is unrealistic. First, put it in the context of our overall debt…It’s actually $870 million right…is 6.4 per cent of our total debt, which is a small portion of the total debt. Our total debt is now $13.4 billion,” Dr Greenidge explained. According to him $870 million of that is going to the IMF.
    “The number looks big, but it is small in the grand scheme of things. And by the way, that $13.4 billion used to be $17.5 billion prior to the BERT [Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation] programme,” added the senior economist who was seconded from the IMF to advise the Government.
    “Now it has to be repaid by 2029 and the interest rate is averaging one per cent. This year in 2022, we will pay back $92 million from the Government revenues. That is, 0.3 per cent of Government revenue will go to pay the IMF debt. In other words, less than a cent out of every revenue dollar will go to pay the IMF this year,” he disclosed.
    “Next year, it’s going to go to two per cent of revenues. In other words, less than two cents out of every revenue dollar will go to service the IMF debt. Two cents. By the time we reach 2026…that is the height of when we are repaying the debt, it is going to be 4.3 per cent of projected revenue debt. Do you know what is 4.3 per cent of projected revenue? Four cents out of every revenue dollar,” the top economist asserted.
    “You could not say that, by any stretch of the imagination, is unrealistic when you are taking less than a cent this year. Next year you are taking less than two cents, then it goes to three cents and by the end of the height of your repayment period, it is going to be four cents out of every revenue dollar.
    That is manageable under any circumstance,” Government’s senior economic advisor stressed.
    Dr Greenidge assured Barbadians that by the time the loan is repaid in 2029, it would only have cost taxpayers an additional $52 million in interest for borrowing $870 million.
    “That is the cheapest money you could get anywhere in the world. The borrowing is very small relative to our total borrowing. It is easy to repay because we can handle it because we borrowed at a low-interest rate; and that money that we borrowed, you can see it in the economy,” he declared.
    Dr Greenidge listed new garbage trucks, electric buses, a new quarantine centre, medication, support to protect those Barbadians on welfare, $150 million paid out by the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and assistance to “a whole host” of people impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as ways in which the financing can be seen at work.
    “We didn’t borrow and threw the money in the garbage. It was used to support and help us respond to the shock because of that (pandemic),” he added.
    “Because we moved the debt to 176 per cent of GDP prior to the BERT programme to 170 per cent prior to COVID, that allowed us the space to make the additional borrowing to do what we need to do,” he stated. The economist noted that the debt rose again to 140 and now it’s on the way back down…As at the end of May this year it is 127 per cent of GDP.
    “And that includes the IMF borrowing, and we project that it will continue that downward trend particularly when the economy starts to grow,” the senior economic advisor told Barbados TODAY. emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

  10. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    Barbados’ debt trap is real, says Wood
    Senior economist Anthony Wood says the pronouncements of Professor Emeritus Michael Howard on Barbados’ precarious debt situation must be taken seriously by Barbadians. Wood noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) debt since government entered the programme in late 2018 amounts to $870 million with the government expected to repay $928 million by 2029.
    Wood, who once served in the Cabinet of late former prime minister Owen Arthur, said Government’s senior economic adviser, Dr. Kevin Greenidge, the IMF and the USA Treasury Department, were optimistic that Barbados will be able to service the debt in full within the stipulated repayment period.
    Conversely, he noted Dr Howard, a retired Professor of Economics and specialist in Public Finance, had serious reservations about Barbados’ ability to repay the IMF loan based on the current economic trajectory of the Mottley administration.
    “Professor Howard’s contention must be taken seriously given what has transpired since the administration was able to reduce the national debt from around 17.1 billion dollars to just under 12 billion dollars (and the debt to GDP from 171 per cent to just under 120 per cent) in late 2018 when the debt restructuring/repudiation programme was concluded. We should be reminded that domestic debt holders (National Insurance Fund, Central Bank of Barbados, Private Financial Institutions and individuals) suffered in a disproportionate manner compared to external debt holders when the administration repudiated (refused to pay) about 4.5 billion dollars of the 17.1 billion dollars in debt.
    “At the time of the debt restructuring/ repudiation programme the size of the Barbados economy was over 10 billion dollars and the important foreign-exchange generating tourism sector was performing well. However, during the period of the IMF and other external loans accumulating, the Barbados economy declined to around 8 billion dollars at one point and the tourism sector virtually ground to a halt at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Excessive borrowing during a period of rapid economic decline will naturally present difficulty for a government to service its debt,” Wood told Barbados TODAY.
    He explained that despite the economy showing signs of improvement over the last six months, driven mainly by the tourism sector, the government has continued to borrow substantial sums from external sources. In fact, he indicated that the national debt has risen to approximately 13.5 billion dollars and the debt to GDP ratio to around 130 per cent. He stated that given the paucity of financial and economic information provided by Dr. Greenidge, the IMF and the USA Treasury Department, Barbadians could not accept their optimistic view of Barbados’ ability to easily or adequately repay the IMF loan in full by 2029.
    Wood, a former lecturer in Economics, Banking and Finance at The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, added that it was nonsensical to discuss the IMF loan in isolation from the other loans granted to Barbados and the reality that other loans will have to be sought over the short to medium term to keep the Barbados economy afloat. He suggested that one source of new loans commencing within six months is very likely to be the same IMF as the government enters a new programme with the institution before year-end. He said the amount owed to the IMF by 2029 is expected to be substantially more than $928 million.
    “Without appropriate economic and financial policies over the short and medium term to return Barbados to a sustained growth path, with tourism and other foreign-exchange generating activities yielding very good results, the country’s ability to service the IMF and other external loans will be seriously compromised. If the current situation has to be extended, Barbados will have to engage in heavy external borrowing to prop up the foreign reserves and help with its external debt obligations. In this case Barbados will be plunged further into the debt trap as stated by Professor Howard.
    “The discussion on debt should not escape the domestic component of the national debt.
    The country cannot afford the administration making the mistakes of the past in incurring substantial debts to the National Insurance Fund, the Central Bank, private financial institutions and individual investors. Such reckless behaviour will undoubtedly stop the economy from progressing and keep the country in the debt trap,” Wood asserted.
    (WG)

  11. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    Economist Drakes says middleclass Bajans ‘cash poor’
    Economist Crystal Drakes has identified what she says is a cash-poor, debt-ridden middle class in Barbados.
    She contended on Wednesday that many of those perceived to be in that economic group have found themselves depending on personal loans and credit to meet their needs, while also having to pay their mortgages, car loans and other financial obligations.
    The Independent Senator made the observation as she contributed to debate in the Upper House on the Pandemic Contribution Levy Bill, 2022.
    Under the legislation, public and private sector employees with salaries of $6 250 or more per month are required to pay one per cent of their earnings in the Pandemic Contribution Levy, for a one-year period.
    However, Senator Drakes was curious about how Government had arrived at that threshold and questioned whether it would have been more appropriate to target persons making $10 000 per month.
    “That is a significantly different income bracket than a person making $6 250. And, Sir, this is based on the premise that in Barbados, like most other societies, the top earners own a large share of the income of their country,” she contended.
    “Sir, there is a research paper titled A Community Divided: Top Incomes in CARICOM Member States. As of 2015, the average household income of the richest 10 per cent in Barbados was three times that of the general population.
    “When we look at it from the top one per cent earners, it is even more glaring in terms of disparity. The average income household of Barbados’ richest one per cent had ten times the income of the average household. And that is why I ask how did the Government arrive at the threshold of $6 250?”
    The Independent Senator added that it was strange the Mia Mottley administration had targeted the top earners in the business community to pay Pandemic Contribution Levy, but not the high-income earners.
    Telecommunications companies, life and general insurance companies, businesses engaged in the sale of fuel, and commercial banks with a net income of $5 million or more in financial years 2020, or 2021, or both, are subject to a levy of 15 per cent of their net income.
    Senator Drakes said she was trying to rationalise whether the Government was attempting to earn revenue from top earners but was roping in persons in the middle class who should not have to contribute to the levy.
    (AH)

  12. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Senator Drakes said she was trying to rationalise whether the Government was attempting to earn revenue from top earners but was roping in persons in the middle class who should not have to contribute to the levy.
    ~~~~~~~~~~
    Crystal
    The damn people are just clueless…. and making knee-jerk decisions.
    One cannot “rationalist” what an idiot is thinking…..

  13. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    Such a sad heartbreaking story and some in Barbados walking around with head stuck high in the air pointing fingers at other countries
    BTW where is the AG what is he being paid to do
    Economic and social decay is prevalent in this country
    A young life with potential lost at the hands of gun violence

    DEADLY LIME
    UWI STUDENT SLAIN AT BIRTHDAY GATHERING
    By Anesta Henry
    Seventy-year-old Patricia Moore is finding it difficult to stop the tears from flowing as she struggles to come to grips with the loss of her grandson Tyrese Caesar, one of the two young men killed in a shooting incident at Orange Cottage, St Joseph last night.
    Moore cried out that while the entire family has been thrown into a state of shock and sadness, the pain Tyrese’s mother Jacqueline Caesar has been feeling since receiving the tragic news about the death of her only child can best be described as a significant burden for a mother to bear.
    “He was my only grand and she is my only child. He didn’t have to die so. You don’t look forward to burying your children at all. He would have been 21 in September,” the grieving grandmother said.
    “His mom is not coping well. She was here with me all morning. None of the family is doing well. It is not easy, but we are here trying to strengthen each other. His mother gone off to the doctor and as soon as she comes back then I will go.
    “But she last saw him last night. Because when she saw him last night she just passed her hand on his chest and say ‘the hair on your stomach is so pretty’,” Moore added.
    Moore who said she witnessed Tyrese birth, described the young man as a fun-loving person. She said she last saw him on Tuesday when he inquired about whether she liked the blouse and sandals he gifted her for her 70th birthday which she recently celebrated.
    “Tyrese was a nice guy. From the time that you see him he would just cling to you, that was who he was. The personality, and from the time you see him, you get that bounce from him,” she said.
    Acting Police Public Relations Officer Inspector Stephen Griffith said officers responded to the area around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 29, after a “number of explosions” were heard.
    On arrival, they discovered the bodies of 20-year-old Tyrese Caesar of Durants, Christ Church outside the Cottage Bar and Grill; and 34-year-old Trae Harris of French Village, St Peter.
    Nineteen-year-old Seth Towler of Heddings, St Philip, was also injured and taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) for treatment.
    The grandmother said she was informed that her grandson was attending a birthday lime at the Orange Cottage where he was killed.
    Tyrese is a former student of Queen’s College and The St Michael School. Moore said he was currently pursuing studies at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus.
    She said he loved motorsports, but noted that he also had a strong upbringing in the church.
    “He used to do a lot of praying for you and laying hands on you,” she said.
    Tyrese recently returned from visiting Canada with his mother and stepfather, and Moore said she and the young man were planning to have an enjoyable time on an upcoming overseas trip.
    “We already have our tickets to go to New York next month and he told me ‘gran we are going to have a good time together’. We were looking forward to that trip,” Moore said as the tears continued to flow.
    Moore’s sister, Sonja Eastmond, who stood at her side offering comfort and support, also failed to hold back her tears.
    Eastmond said everybody loved Tyrese.
    “He was a sweet child. He would always check up on you.
    He was just that kind of child,” Eastmond said.
    Meanwhile, Moore lamented that she was fed up with the level of gun violence taking place in Barbados.
    “It is too much. One time in the older times you would try to pick up a stick or something and try to hit at somebody, or run for help. But every mimute now it is just guns, guns, guns,” Moore said, while shaking her head in disbelief.
    When Barbados TODAY visited Harris’ French Village, St Peter home his relatives opted not to speak about his untimely passing.
    There was a sombre mood at the Horse Hill community where the two men lost their lives. Residents were not willing to comment on a possible motive for the deadly event. anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb

  14. David Avatar
    David

    Continue to scour local news for every rh negative story.

  15. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    DavidJuly 1, 2022 9:26 AM

    Continue to scour local news for every rh negative story
    Xxxxxx
    Sorry bro I did not create the news I reported what is being talked about
    You can always keep holding your head high pretending that all which is happening does not apply to Barbados
    Meanwhile keep sticking your nose in America problems in avoidance of Barbados problems

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