One Shock Away

The Barbados economy is so perilously placed at the moment that it is only one shock away from disaster. The indices like GDP and foreign reserves that should be up are down and those like inflation, unemployment and both the fiscal and current account deficits that should be down are up. The government’s unimaginative fiscal measures have done little to stop the hemorrhaging or stimulate the economy.

Thompson’s initial efforts were as amateurish as they were confused with the result that he created a bigger problem than needed to have existed. Time and again Mia Mottley and Owen Arthur warned him that he was going down the wrong path, but he seemed to take some perverse comfort from the fact that there was an international recession out there on which he could blame his troubles.

The chickens have now come home to roost and we have the sorry spectacle of a Minister of Finance crowing over a 0.1 percentage drop in the unemployment rate as evidence of the sterling job he has done in managing the economy. We wonder if he realizes that if Chris Sinckler has his way the threatened firings at UDC will cause a spike in the unemployment rate. Employment Strategy 101 according to Thompson – from the sublime to the ridiculous. Thompson says he is preparing Barbados for the post-recession period.

 Ahem! Will somebody please tell him that he needs to get us out of the recession first? The International Monetary Fund has predicted that unemployment will likely increase, that foreign reserves are likely to decline to two months of imports putting pressure on the exchange rate, public finances will be under threat, the outlook for the offshore financial sector may be uncertain and the failure to resolve the problems of CLICO Barbados will result in massive losses from the public purse with negative impacts on the already high public debt, on the soundness of the financial sector and already frayed investor confidence. In the face of this gloomy report, Thompson steadfastly refuses to take Barbadians into his confidence. The IMF knows that he will likely increase natural gas rates, as he did water. They know that he plans to reduce the fiscal deficit by cutting spending.

They know that he plans a comprehensive overhaul of the tax system. They know that he has no contingency plan should the disposal of CLICO Barbados be unsuccessful. They know that life in Barbados is going to get a lot harder. Do you? We are swaying in the breeze on the very tenuous thread of global recovery, while our Minister of Finance joins the hordes jetting off to Beijing (again) in search of Chinese yuans, leaving us to wonder what his plan for recovery really is. One single economic shock, whether natural or man-made, could send us crashing to the rocks below. Whether it is a hike in oil prices, or a hurricane, some new pandemic disease or tougher international tax regulations Barbados and Barbadians are seriously exposed to ruin.

Yet the Prime Minister has no words of comfort or confidence. There is no self-belief and it is seeping into the national consciousness. As more Bajans lose their jobs, more are beginning to fear for their own. As church members try to help their fellow congregants from losing their houses they too are fearful of their own prospects. Confidence in the government and Thompson’s ability to turn things around is being eaten away by his silence on matters of substance. The aura of gloom is in danger of becoming a volatile and destructive force. Fear not friends, in a democracy you always have other options.

The Time is Now

I wish to start from the simple premise that Barbados’ future is up to Barbadians. However, the life of most Barbadians has taken a turn for the worse within the last two years and David Thompson and his Democratic Labour Party (DLP) government are responsible for the plunge. 
 
I say this knowing full well the disastrous position in which the Democratic Labour Party placed this country, between 1991 and 1994. This time around, the DLP’s “change” is life threatening.  Barbadians have to choose whether to buy food and be evicted or pay their rent or mortgage and starve.
 
It is unfortunate that Barbadians are again being subjected to such severe DLP pain with a lost worst to come.  Thousands have again lost their jobs; a lot more have lost confidence in the ruling party (with just cause) and even die-hard dems are losing hope – as they too struggle to survive and make ends meet – many now having to do so for the first time in fourteen years. 
 
There is no doubt that the dreadful decisions being made by the ruling party are again making life extremely hard for Barbadians.  But it is never a wise idea to gamble with your future.  The truth is – the people of this country were promised a ‘pathway to progress’ but – as was the case between 1991 and 1994 – this country is again on the road to poverty.  That long line outside the Welfare Department recently – bears the proof.
 
My Fellow Barbadian now is the time to repair our economy and make it stronger.  This is clearly not a job for the ruling Party, which does not know what to do or what it is doing. 
 
The fundamental difference between the Barbados Labour Party and the DLP is our unmatched ability to manage the Barbados economy and provide the progressive leadership that is badly needed now.  Be advised that the BLP has the skills, experience and competence to fix what the DLP continues to break and with your support, the BLP will fix the Barbados economy again and restore good order to the social and economic disorder, the Dems are creating daily.
 
Were the BLP in office – Barbados would never have been in such humiliating circumstances, but given these same conditions, we would be preparing a feast for Barbadians – not making you suffer, as you now are under this DLP rule.
 
You are now paying more for rum, because of the Dems.  You cannot find a job because of the DLP.  Road tax is today higher because of the Dems.  You have less money in your pocket and none to save because of the Dems.  Water today costs 60% more because of the Dems and the IMF.  Your light bill is higher today because of the IMF and the Dems.  The cost of living and the price of food is as high as it is and climbing because of the Dems. 
 
You are being placed on the breadline because of the Dems.  Businesses are closing because of the Dems.  Crime is increasing and families are being broken because of the Dems.  And, this country is running out of foreign exchange because of the Dems. 
 
No business wants to invest in a place where the government does not know what it is doing, hence – investor confidence in this country has been shattered because of the Dems.  It is why Barbados is now on a free fall from prosperity to crisis.  We Can Do Better!
 
It was the Barbados Labour Party that grew the economy and created jobs.  We reduced taxes, promoted investor confidence and improved the quality of life and standard of living of ALL Barbadians because of our unmatched ability to manage the local economy and our unmatched knowledge how to create a regional economy.  We can make you safe again. “Protect your future with the BLP.”
 
No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of arrogance, bribery and threats to: “DO OR ELSE.”   That is not democracy or good governance — that is tyranny and now is the time for it to end. 
 
First, the target was those who were rounded up in the dead of the night and deported, despite the announcement of an amnesty until December 31st 2009.  Then it was public servants; those who have an alternative and superior view, as well as those deemed not worthy to benefit from the fatted calf.  Will you be next?  Do you want to be next! Then: The Time Is Now!

Ministry of Social Confusion

When the Prime Minister re-shuffled his Cabinet last November, just ten months after assuming office, there was considerable hoopla over the removal of Chris Sinckler from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The spin of the day turned what in most administrations would be considered a demotion, into a leadership role in rolling out the government’s faltering social programme. 

In the interim, there has been precious little to show for Sinckler’s pay cheques besides bravado, wild goose chases and a contemptuous disregard for accepted industrial practices. In his most recent public debacle, NUPW General Secretary, Dennis Clarke has accused Sinckler of union busting tactics and threatened to report the matter to the Freedom of Association Committee of the ILO.  

For a Minister of Government to be accused of union busting tactics is a grave offence that warrants censure. Can you imagine the howls that would have emanated from George Street if such an accusation had been made of the Barbados Labour Party? The normally garrulous Minister is on mute. Not even a murmur denying the charge.  

For the second time in a week the actions of this government and its agents have been an embarrassment to the country. First it was freedom of the press, now freedom of association. There is a free-for-all going on at the highest levels of government that must be of concern to all Barbadians. Poor judgment is compounded by a wrong and strong attitude that defies any semblance of good governance.  

Amidst all of this, the record of the social care star boy has gone from bad to worse. He landed in his new assignment and promptly scolded his predecessor Dennis Lowe for his poor performance.  This faux pas was followed by his announcement that houses were missing from the UDC – a charge still to be proven.  

Then there was talk of merging the Rural and Urban Commissions – no movement on this either. He then purged the list of contractors at the UDC, but since no construction is going on there, this is of little immediate consequence.

Most recently came the big announcement that the UDC was to be ‘restructured’ – a Democratic Labour Party euphemism for victimization.  

The raising of the alarm by our Political Leader, Mia Mottley and prompt action by the NUPW has in large measure scuttled this plot, but there are still eight UDC employees who, at the time of writing, remain in limbo, with negotiations reaching a stalemate. 

Over at the Welfare Department things are no better. Workers there are out, protesting the government’s failure to relocate them from a building the Environmental Protection Agency has deemed unfit for human habitation. Star boy Sinckler got another dressing down from Dennis Clarke who this time accused him of “playing politics with the workers’ health and with the emotions of the poor.” And then there are also the dismissals at the National Assistance Board! 

Long time DLP member Nigel Harper, himself a former union man, made a surprise return to the national spotlight to criticize his party’s lack of vision in general and the star boy’s constituency councils in particular, echoing the public’s opinion that they ought to have been set up differently. Harper was very clear that no single minister should have the power to appoint the councils and approve their every project.  

Chris Sinckler has lurched from one controversy to the next since his appointment to the Ministry of Social Care. It is time that he meet the needs of the poor and disadvantaged instead of focusing on those things which he thinks will ensure his own success (even if at the expense of his Prime Minister) and his party’s reelection.  

Maybe it is just as well that he was removed from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for, yet again, he has flattered to deceive. 

Where Are We ?

Where is Barbados heading on the turbulent economic ocean that swirls around us? Is our compass set for recovery or greater disaster? Is our captain on the bridge, hands on the wheel, with a safe harbour in view? Or are we in danger of being swept overboard into the deep, dark, swirling vortex of record unemployment, higher taxation, reduced government services and a decline in the standard of living?

It would be hard to come to a solid conclusion from the Prime Minister’s recent Press Conference. He provided little of substance on which to base any hope that he has set the right course and that further pain is not a looming reality. Our best estimate of what lies in wait is the Review of the Economy for the first six months of the year issued by the Central Bank.

Since past performance is as good an indicator of future performance in economics as in any other endeavour and in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, we have to conclude that our immediate future is not bright. Most troubling is the unemployment rate, which rose to a first quarter six-year high of 10.1% in the space of 12 months. At the time of year when employment is traditionally at its highest in tourism and the sugar harvest, the fact that we have lost jobs is the gravest indicator of a floundering economy.

This if nothing else should be a red alert for David Thompson. The fact that he has offered no solutions to reverse this trend should be a red alert to the people of Barbados. Just as distressing is the gaping fiscal deficit, which the Prime Minister seems powerless to control. An additional $70 million in the space of a year with nothing in the face of declining revenue is like looking through the wrong end of a telescope. The light at the end of the tunnel is a very long way off. To say that our leader, Mia Amor Mottley warned him of the position in which he was placing the country during every major economic debate in the House of Assembly is small recompense for the suffering about to be visited on countless households throughout the country.

For all of his grandstanding about appointing an Advisory Economic Council, which seldom meets, and inviting an Eminent Group of former Ministers of Finance to breakfast, which seems to have gone by the by, the Prime Minister needs to roll up his shirt sleeves and get down to the work of fixing the economy. No number of free bus rides and free summer camps will replace the right and expectations of people to a decent job. They will not pay the mortgage or the rent. You cannot trade them in for a full shopping basket at the supermarket. The Barbados Water Authority will not credit them against the 60% increase in water rates and neither will the Commissioner of Land Tax.

Indeed, we are tempted to ask “What will it profit a man if he gains a free bus ride, but loses his job, his house and his car?” Facetious as it may seem, we fear it is a question that may very soon be on the lips of thousands of our fellow citizens. We are on the brink of a financial and economic disaster equaled only by the present Minister of Finance’s last stint at the wheel and all the weeping and wailing about the international recession will bring no comfort to hungry bellies and stressed out breadwinners. Where are you taking us Mr. Thompson? The people are asking and awaiting a response.

A Kinder Gentler Barbados

      “If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a

      citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island cut off from other

      lands, but a continent that joins to them.” – Francis Bacon 

A boorish patina has crept into the public utterances of members of the Government that more and more Barbadians are remarking on as both unnecessary and foreign to the Barbadian way. Some admittedly are less appalling than others, but by and large they set a poor example for our young people in particular and for our citizens in general. 

The recent public roasting of the Minister of Education, Ronald Jones for his repeated public badmouthing of the teaching fraternity is a fine example of a people who have said enough is enough.  

Of course, Mr. Jones was the first member of the Cabinet to accuse public servants of obstructing his government’s programmes very early in the life of this Parliament.  

We found his baseless accusations then to be in bad taste and we are therefore not entirely surprised that he has continued on this course. If Mr. Jones will not defend and support the teachers under his charge, who will?    Certainly not the Minister of Family, Dr. Byer-Suckoo, who evidently needs a lesson in how to leave good enough alone. “Follow pattern kill Cadogan,” dear doctor. 

None other than the Prime Minister himself has made a clarion call of the saying ‘ever so welcome, wait for a call’ as if this is some cute rebuke to an over anxious suitor. Uttered in the context of his still emerging managed migration policy, it is nothing short of offensive and he ought to listen more to the public servants schooled in the art of diplomatic language and less to his political advisor. 

The skill set required to mount a political campaign has little in common with the complexities of running a government and it is all too evident when the political advisor finds himself out of his depth. 

But then who could forget the sentence uttered in a fit of pique and immortalized in calypso by our Ambassador-in-waiting to China, “if you don’t like it, lump it.”  How can we expect a neophyte Minister of Health to resist criticism of a Caricom Head of government with these as examples? 

It is one thing to disagree and even argue in private and another entirely to insult public servants and Heads of government in public. It is no good for the Prime Minister to repeatedly voice dissatisfaction with his own perception that his Cabinet is not seen as comprising ‘brand name’ politicians, if by his own example he does little to dissuade Barbadians otherwise.

The tone and tenor of the national personality are all too easily influenced by the words of political leaders.   It is high time that the Government raises the bar and sets an example of tolerance, open, even if spirited, discussion, respect and plain good manners for our young people.  

As life in Barbados becomes more and more fast-paced we must not lose sight of the characteristics that have made us what we are as a people. We must return that spirit of industriousness, service, pride in a job well done and the desire to achieve for our children more than our parents did for us if we are to rise to the top in a world where high value is placed on these qualities. They have stood us in good stead in the past and we must continue to use them as the foundation of development for the future.

Mind Your Own Business

We have been amused in recent weeks at the amount of time spent by the Government’s Principal Political Advisor, Hartley Henry on Barbados Labour Party affairs. He has morphed into the proverbial Meddlesome Mattie that our grandmothers warned us about. Latter day calypso enthusiasts would know him as Sousie.

With our small country and vulnerable economy, made all the more so by his boss’ absence and absent policies, facing the most difficult time since Independence we thought he would have his own business to mind.

Why is he not crafting explanations for the Government’s failure to bring relief from the high cost of living? He spent several weeks boring the public with tales of his overseas shopping excursions in a lame attempt to justify the rise in prices everywhere.

Next, the wicket was rolled for the impending arrival of Cost U Less. Since this strategy for rescuing us from high prices appears to have fallen off the chart, we thought he would be searching diligently for a replacement tenant for a certain piece of real estate in St. George.

Why is he not trying to paint a positive picture of the black hole that has become our tourism industry? With reduced airlift capacity from the United States and the United Kingdom contributing to a significant decline in tourism value-added at the height of the winter season, what is his political advice to explain the 8.7% decline in long stay visitor arrivals?

Could not his time be better spent on justifying two consecutive Budgets that gave no impetus to the country’s productive sectors? And whether this omission has contributed to the unemployment figures rising to double digits from a historic low of 6.7% just one month before his government assumed office.

Should he not be trying to explain to Barbadians how charitable donations will substitute for foreign direct investment and what, if any, will be the true cost of this new policy to the country?

Perhaps he might like to focus on the government’s much touted Constituency Councils and why after the ‘hot and sweaty’ rush to pass the legislation through Parliament they still have not seen the light of day?

Is there any truth to the rumour that they are a fanciful expense that the Government cannot now afford? Or the fact that the Government has dismissed a number of persons who have been running summer camps for years without pay – only to replace them with DLP canvassers and supporters who will now be paid.

What spin will he bring to the paltry foreign reserves position?

Has he adopted a hands-off approach to the reduced rating by Standard & Poors and the impact this will have on our ability to borrow money in the international marketplace and the threat it imposes on our fixed exchange rate?

And what of the stalled Integrity and Freedom of Information Legislation which was the centrepiece of his party’s election campaign? What has happened to transparency and good governance? Have they been abandoned along with the other Hundred Day promises?

What is his plan to appease the hundreds of Barbadians who are being hurt daily by his boss’ new immigration policy? Have his ‘politics of distraction’ suffered an unexpected and nasty backfire both at home and abroad?

It seems to us that he has quite a lot of his own business to mind and only another three years in which to mind it. As the old saying goes, “if it ain’t your tail, don’t wag it.’ We certainly do not need his gratuitous advice and Barbadians need answers and solutions to the hardships they face every day.

What will you do now, Mr. Political Advisor, that your strategy of distracting attention from the real issues has been exposed? What new ways will you devise to sugar coat the truth – that your government is failing and failing spectacularly?  

What Budget?

What Budget? “Yesterday’s Budget will come to be remembered more for what it failed to do than what it delivered.” Mia Amor Mottley While Barbadians breathed a collective sigh of relief that the Prime Minister did not try to tax his way out of the recession, Opposition Leader Mia Amor Mottley made it very clear in her reply that having cited the problems affecting the economy, he then did nothing to resolve them.

For Barbadians who remember the horrors of the early nineties there was an awful sense of déjà vu about the Prime Minister’s presentation. Then as now, the country’s foreign reserves were of greatest concern. Miss Mottley pointed out that the foreign reserves had not yet reached the perilous state they were, in 1990/91, but if nothing were done to arrest the slide – then Barbadians would be staring harsh economic adjustments squarely in the face. She was of the view that Thompson would have to return to the House before the expiration of the current financial year to correct the problems that he refused to address in the Budget.

It was this delay that concerned Miss Mottley, given the history of 1991. Of greatest concern to her though is the announcement by the Prime Minister to run a primary fiscal surplus of 5.9% of GDP by 2011. The requirement to run this type of surplus is a prescription normally imposed by international lending agencies like the IMF and the World Bank and means that once more, like 1991, we would not hold our destiny in our own hands. It also means that a substantial chunk of any money we generate will have to be put aside to appease the moneylenders and will not be available for either social programmes, support for the private sector or projects that will expand our productive capacity. Effectively they will lend us the money, but tell us how we must spend it – repaying interest.

This remedy is precisely what could lead to social suffering and further economic hardship. Despite those who might advocate otherwise, Miss Mottley continues to offer the Government advice and solutions out of the mess it has generated around itself. As early as last year she cautioned that the large increase in energy prices and the Prime Minister’s $104 million tax grab would lead to an increase in prices and less money in people’s pockets. The advice was ignored. She advised then as well that that was the time to go to the international market for loans when money was still available and affordable. The advice was ignored.

She suggested floating a Stabilization Bond to support employment. The advice was ignored. She called for a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs in March so that the Opposition could assist the national effort. The advice was ignored. Now that the mess has hit the proverbial fan, the Prime Minister is pleading with the Opposition to join Team Barbados and put country ahead of partisan political interests. Calls for unity must never be disguised as a silence of criticism.

It is not a part of our Parliamentary or national experience. But have no fear; Miss Mottley and the Barbados Labour Party team will continue to show the Prime Minister and his side the error of his ways. She will continue to offer the government advice in the interest of Barbados and Barbadians, even when it is thrown back in her face with all the finesse of a gully boar. Who can forget the jeering from the government benches in the first Budget Debate: “You are not in Government now.” “We don’t want your advice.” She knows that Barbados deserves better. She knows that Barbados can do better. She knows that we can do better.

Against The Tide

Against the tide

myopia, mi-o-pi-a, n. lack of imagination, foresight or   intellectual insight

Prime Minister David Thompson, supported by his Cabinet, has taken the expected reactionary view to the issue of immigration by our Caribbean brothers and sisters without apparently identifying any real solution to what is perceived as a problem by so many Barbadians.

What is even more disturbing is that his lukewarm attempt to solve the “problem” makes no mention of people who are not our neighbours, but who are here illegally. The lack of a clearly defined message makes it appear as if Caribbean people are being targeted as the scapegoats in the immigration morass.

There are a few things that Barbadians must consider when examining this question of intra-regional migration. First and foremost we cannot extract it from the larger mission of regionalism.

Half a century after the concept of a common people with a common destiny was first mooted are we satisfied that as members of a geographic region with a similar historical experience that there is more that unites us than divides us?

Are we satisfied as well that our future prosperity lies in unity and not isolation? If the answer to these two seminal questions is yes then all that remains is how we choose to accomplish the goal.

As a region we are not without experience in this regard. Despite the failure of the political structure of Federation, the University College of the West Indies, the West Indies Meteorological Service, the West India Regiment and the Federal Supreme Court and their successors are proof positive of the benefits of pooling our resources.

From Carifta to Caricom to the CSME the goal has been collective effort for individual gain. Regrettably, community has often been subsumed by sovereignty for the sake of political expediency and to the detriment of greater prosperity than we currently enjoy as a region.

So where do we go from here and why is it important to Barbadians. First, the reality of the situation – in a world where the economic pecking order is constantly being re-defined to benefit the giants it is obviously easier to build alliances with the countries you know and with whom you have something in common.

The facts already indicate that Caricom countries buy fifty-two percent of our exports; twenty percent of our tourists come from neighbouring countries and the Caribbean Basin is a natural extension of the local market for companies, large and small, wishing to expand their operations. So if we are going to continue to grow our economies in an international climate of constraint, the Caribbean community is already a natural fit.

Naturally we must expect our neighbours will wish to have the same opportunity for growth that we do. The stronger they are, the greater opportunities exist for us to trade with them in both goods and services. It therefore stands to reason that if we pool our resources to avoid the cost of duplicating regulatory, legal; research and financing institutions then the benefits will accrue to all.

People though are the market. Not companies or institutions nor even sovereign states. Once the people prosper, the market will prosper. This is why it is urgent for the Prime Minister to push for a common protocol to define contingent rights.

If a man is working and paying taxes it is not unreasonable for him to expect certain benefits from the state. Prohibition does not work. It will create an underclass that can potentially undermine the system. It is better to embrace a man for mutual gain than to try to shut him out.

When will the Prime Minister recognize this next crucial step?

Unsound Clico??????????????

The Government of Barbados earlier this year announced that its strategy to support the more than 40 000 policy holders and investors and the 1600 odd employees in the companies of Clico Holdings Barbados was to sell Clico International Life Insurance Company to ICBL.

ICBL has now indicated that they have discontinued discussions with Clico Holdings Barbados in respect of that sale. This tears into shreds the Government’s strategy for Clico and it raises a few questions.

Why should ICBL break off talks that the Government of Barbados are so keen on?

1. Is it that the assets of Clico are not as sound as the Prime Minister has assured us?
2. Is it that Clico is so confident of the Prime Minister’s support that they were not prepared to sell the company at the right price?
3. Is it that the more ICBL found out about the operations of Clico the more they wanted to get as far away as possible?

 

What is certain, however, is that the Government should now seek urgently to have the Supervisor of Insurance apply to the Court to place the company under judicial management to protect the interest of these 40 000 policy-holders and investors given the sizeable Statutory Fund deficit.

 

This still leaves Clico Holdings Barbados or the Supervisor of Insurance to pursue the option of the sale of Clico Life or any part of its assets therein under the provisions of the Insurance Act.

Amber Alert

Amber Alert “The negative outlook on Barbados reflects the growing imbalances that the inconsistent fiscal and monetary policy mix has caused.” – Olga Kalinina, Standard & Poor’s Economist

In our view this is the most damning criticism of David Thompson’s performance as Minister of Finance since he assumed that office some sixteen months ago. If ever there was a vote of no confidence in Thompson’s ability to manage our economy, this is it. We are not surprised, because it is a criticism that our leader Mia Mottley has made of him without apology. She knows the importance of consistency in maintaining confidence in the Barbados economy.

No amount of sugar coating that the region is under fallout stress from the global economic downturn and that Barbados is not unlike other countries whose ratings have dropped can negate the full import of Ms. Kalinina’s words. The Barbados Labour Party has warned repeatedly of a government adrift and unsure of which path to take; of a government that waits far too long to take even reactionary decisions, much less pre-emptive or proactive ones. The Prime Minister’s ‘wait and see’ approach to economic management singles him out as a ditherer that the country cannot afford in these trying times. And what are these inconsistent policies of which Ms. Kalinina speaks?

 Balanced budgets or deficits or both as the DLP prclaimed. Subsidies, no subsidies – yes subsidies! The government committed itself to a balanced budget and imposed the single greatest tax imposition on Barbadians in our economic history. This was done against a background of rising oil prices, which in his misguided wisdom the Prime Minister passed on to the productive sectors and the average Barbadian. Miss Mottley’s opposition to this policy has been well documented. With the implosion of the global financial markets, the Prime Minister’s response was to organize an economic talk shop two months after the Lehman Brothers collapsed.

This report is yet to be published, although he has commented on it as being a mid-term strategy. So back to the ‘wait and see’ stance. Then there was much ‘too and fro’ about whether we had or should have a stimulus package. School fences and a highway improvement project already on the cards were cited as evidence of such, amidst much continued ambivalence by the Prime Minister as to whether this was the course we should take. Under pressure to explain the fall in foreign reserves and the unrealistic revenue estimates contained in this year’s Estimates, the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance decided that he had in fact implemented a stimulus package.

 Both Mia Mottley and Owen Arthur said then that the time for stimulus packages had already passed and that the failure to implement them sooner – now meant that we should be engaging in defensive measures and that a stabilization package is what is now required. We shall observe with keen interest whether such a package is contained in the Prime Minister’s Budget. While no country enjoys a downward adjustment of it’s rating or even its outlook, if there is a clear plan to implement measures that may lead to a downgrade, but yield improved results in the short and medium term results, then Ministers of Finance view them as a necessary evil.

When however, there is no plan or an inconsistent plan, then the chance of improvement becomes more remote as does an upward revision of the outlook. This is the unfortunate position in which we find ourselves today. The Prime Minister has no clear strategy for protecting the Barbados economy and no policies to ensure its growth. There is an awful sense of déjà vu hanging in the air.

Would it be too much to hope for – that the Prime Minister relieve himself of the Finance portfolio and save us all the certain hardship we shall face by his present insistence that he knows what he is doing?