Reality Check: Our grandchildren will still be paying for Cricket World Cup
How much did that Cricket Party cost us?
Priority: Hundreds of Millions borrowed for a few weeks of cricket
Was it half a billion or a billion? I’ve forgotten, and I’ve forgotten what fun it was too!
Barbados Gets A Downgrade
Barbados may have gotten a high quality of living stamp but its bond rating was yesterday downgraded to the brink of junk.
Moody`s Investors Service on Tuesday lowered the Barbados government bond rating to the brink of junk territory, stating that the nation`s government debt has more than doubled. Barbados` bond rating was lowered to Baa3, or just one notch into investment grade.
Moody`s expects the island`s debt to exceed 100 percent of its economic output, compared with 65 percent in 1999.
… continue reading this article at Caribworldnews.com
How many hundred million tax dollars were wasted?
You can’t expect to plant potatoes and reap yams.
The BLP did a wondeful job.
Yeah Lp,a good job of robbing taxpayers and putting you and the next two generations in debt,you yardfowls need to be plucked..seriously.
It really does hurt for some of us to admit that former Primeminister Arthur did an excellent job. Only hear about Moody and Standard and Poors grading , down grading and regrading but don’t know all that jardon,but I can bet my bottom dollar life was much better with Arthur in the saddle. That was real.
The BLP claims to have done a good job for 14 years.
Too bad they left almost a billion dollars in debt we now have to repay during the worst recession since the great depression.
The BLP were in power during the best economic times this century. Yes we did get a state of the art Prison and the magnificent Kensington Oval and of course nuff Golf courses and Luxury mansions.
and then the recession came…..
Layman: Your party alliance blinds you to simple truths. The rating downgrade is based on historical actions, such as what Arthur sanctioned during his terms. S&P downgrade actions happen after the policy deeds go wrong, not before.
Hants,
your are playing with facts, this government has overseen the largest and fastest rise in debt in the history of Barbados. Under the BLP the saving grace was that most of the debt was denominated in local currency. The DLP has gone to the international markets and will substatially change Barbados’ debt profile.
You also neglect to mention that the BLP left over a billion dollars in foreign reserves. Which have since declined under the current lot of jokers.
As to the mansions and golf courses, they provided inflows of capital and also employment. One of Thompson’s major problems is that he has been unable to attract foreign investment.
Even more troubling than the downgrade is the lack of any coherent policy statement on by members of this administration on how they are proposing to handle the recession.
After 9/11 Barbados had ratings downgrades by the credit agencies but the Government of the day clearly stated that they were pursuing a strategy of higher deficits to maintain employment and economic activity. As the recession eased they moved the deficit back in line with the economic benchmarks and our rating rose once again. This government has made no such clear policy statement, and continues to make contradictory statements about “balanced budget” and “small manageable deficits” in the same policy framework.
While the DLP would love to blame this downgrade on the BLP (as they do with everything else) after so long in office they can’t excuse their way out of this one.
[...] debt woes continue to weigh on its international credit rating”: Living in Barbados and Barbados Free Press blog about the most recent downgrade. Cancel this [...]
huh? above stated:
‘While the DLP would love to blame this downgrade on the BLP (as they do with everything else) after so long in office they can’t excuse their way out of this one’
——————————-
Not so, the rating report SPECIFICALLY references the steadily increasing debt over the last ten years, most of which was under the last administration.
If you are going to bring an argument, have the facts.
If you reply rebutting this, I will be happy to post the precise paragraph from the Moody’s
(INDEPENDENT) report.
@Huh?
You need to have a conversation with your BLP intelligensia.
They would help you to present a more credible spin on the billion debt they left in Jan 2008 after 14 years in office.
The DLP is doing a good job during this worldwide recession. That is a fact.
To all of those who keep saying that the credit rating agency is using old data, you are correct. If they are saying the past 10 years from 1999. It should be clear that that includes 2009. A from 2009 – 1999 is 10 years. So it does include this administration’s term thus far. We also need to remember that while the BLP has created a large debt of over 500 million the DLP has done that in less then 2 years with an economy thats virtually on a stand still. Which debt is worst? debt in a working economy or debt is one thats bad and getting worst where all engines have either stalled or stand still. I also think its quite amasing that was and Bajans do not give credit where credit is due. Yes the BLP made mistakes and yes the DLP will make some and have made some. But we always fail to thank people for what they have done and show how ungreatful we truly are. We did the same thing to Sandiford and now we are doing it to Owen. And knowing Bajans they will do it to Thompson. But I only wish those persons who are always blaming Owen for everything could have seen what Barbados would have been like had he really done nothing. Then and only then will UNGREATFUL Bajans truly be thankful for what it is we really have and for what the people who voted in those positions have really done for our country.
The Democratic Labour Party is surely in election mode even though general elections are constitutionally due in 2013. How else do you explain the current level of muckraking in which they are engaged? Basically the DLP has not adjusted to its new status as the ruling party of Barbados. Every morning Barbadians are informed via the print media of another juicy “scandal” in which BLP politicians are alledgely involved.
Last week it was the stripping of asbestos from the units at Kensington Lodge by the husband of a former BLP minister and now this week it is the allocation of NHC to tenants and the sale of NHC housing lots. But even a blind man on a trotting house can recognise that these are all diversionary tactics being employed by the DLP to distract the populace from the party’s lack of skill in handling the current economic problems. People on the streets are simply suffering, Thompson. Every few steps you take on the streets people are begging you for money to satisfy basic needs. Thompson check Baxters Road and you will see that every outlet that is selling lunches, the shop assistant is half asleep behind the counter. There are simply no customers.
Can you imagine that a Prime Minister who unveiled a youth manifesto at Haynesville prior to the 2008 general elections are now telling the youth: “You had better not attend the Cave Hill Campus because my government cannot guarantee you a job when you graduate. Try to become an entrepreneur and be self employed.” David Thompson and his political neophytes definitely lack creativity. When confronted by a similar situation, the Indian government under Nehru established the first of seven Institutes of Technology which currently turn out thousands of graduates in such areas as engineering, Information Technology, accountancy and management. Today, Mumbai is now seen as the Silicon Valley of India. The people of Barbados elected Thompson to find solutions to their problems. They did not elect him to throw up his hands in despair. He is being paid to find solutions.
On the issue of the allocation of housing units everyone knows that this has been used to gain votes by all administrations. As far back as the early 1960s my sister-in law was allocated a unit in Sayes Court on the basis of my brother’s friendship with the then Senator Odessa Gittens. My sister-in law said that on presenting the letter to an officer at the NHC, the officer said: “If Senator Gittens said give you a unit it must be done.” So what’s new in the allocation of units. Was Senator Gittens a BLP politician? She was a DLP member and a close friend of the Late Sir Cammeron Tudor.
Thompson you have gone on record as saying that politics should not be intellectualised. You seem to be anti-intellectual to the core. Just check who is your closest political advisor. That being the case, you should step aside and let Barbadians enjoy the benefits of the fertile intellect Miss Mia Mottley possesses. She is definitely a philosopher/Queen. She is a scholar.
Interesting bit in today’s front page Nation.
Gives one an idea of who amd what we deal with in respect of the country’s fortunes.
Balance of report;- “The ratings outlook is stable. Despite those concerns, Moody’s isn’t worried about the government’s ability to finance its short-term needs or about a balance-of-payments crisis, highlighting the nation’s investment-grade status.”
http:// online dot wsj.com/article slash BT-CO-20091013 dash 711692.html? mod equals rss_Bonds