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Too bad Barbados is broke though. The economy is in shambles right now and their sovereign debt was recently downgraded to junk status.
I heard from a friend who lives there and works in the financial sector that they are almost at the stage of borrowing from the national pension plan to pay public servants :O Hopefully they don't end up having to go cap in hand to the IMF like Jamaica.
The Barbadian economy is not in shambles. Barbados, like many countries, is facing a fiscal problem that was caused by the downturn of the global economy. Its Ba1 credit rating is no different from Iceland's Baa3 rating in November 2012 and we don't see Iceland "going the way of Jamaica," do we? This is just what happens when you're a small country that doesn't have the resources of the United States to fight off economic contractions. You wind up with a much higher debt-to-GDP ratio.
The problem is that people look at the islands that stayed British, French, Dutch, American, etc and yes while it is true that they are generally more developed, have higher average incomes, etc many people also forget that they have much smaller populations.
It's much easier to develop the Cayman Islands to European standards than the much larger Jamaica with a much larger population.
For the Greater Antilles, the exception would be Puerto Rico (which incidentally has a higher HDI than any independent nation in the Caribbean). The exceptions for the Lesser Antilles are Martinique and Guadeloupe which, though smaller than Jamaica, are pretty sizable.
The Barbadian economy is not in shambles. Barbados, like many countries, is facing a fiscal problem that was caused by the downturn of the global economy. Its Ba1 credit rating is no different from Iceland's Baa3 rating in November 2012 and we don't see Iceland "going the way of Jamaica," do we? This is just what happens when you're a small country that doesn't have the resources of the United States to fight off economic contractions. You wind up with a much higher debt-to-GDP ratio.
But high unsustainable debt like what Barbados has is not just a "fiscal problem" as you call it. It has far reaching socio-economic effects. What do you think will happen if/when the government is forced to bite the bullet and send home a chunk of the public sector?
I live in Trinidad and work for a local insurer with considerable interests in Barbados. Our Barbados sales are declining rapidly as people are lapsing their policies since they can no longer afford to pay, Barbados yield curve is extremely high(something like 5% for a 3 month yield which can give you an idea of the high risk involved with their debt), our Barbados asset portfolio is something like 90% cash because we are absolutely terrified of their bonds. When institutional investors don't want to invest, that is a serious problem. As a representative of a large institutional investor in the bajan economy I'm actually going to Barbados next month to meet with the Central Bank about the problems being faced there because they realized things are reaching crisis proportions (our Barbados staff's words..not mine)
I understand Bajans are very prideful people but let's call a spade a spade. An adjustment is needed, it is just a matter of when. It will be painful since they have no money to create stimulus so the only other option is cutbacks. If they are at the point of needing to borrow from the national pension plan to pay salaries (as nearby Grenada did) then things are indeed dire. As I said I heard this from a friend who lives there though so cannot confirm as yet if that is true. Everything else is factual.
But high unsustainable debt like what Barbados has is not just a "fiscal problem" as you call it. It has far reaching socio-economic effects. What do you think will happen if/when the government is forced to bite the bullet and send home a chunk of the public sector?
I live in Trinidad and work for a local insurer with considerable interests in Barbados. Our Barbados sales are declining rapidly as people are lapsing their policies since they can no longer afford to pay, Barbados yield curve is extremely high(something like 5% for a 3 month yield which can give you an idea of the high risk involved with their debt), our Barbados asset portfolio is something like 90% cash because we are absolutely terrified of their bonds. When institutional investors don't want to invest, that is a serious problem. As a representative of a large institutional investor in the bajan economy I'm actually going to Barbados next month to meet with the Central Bank about the problems being faced there because they realized things are reaching crisis proportions (our Barbados staff's words..not mine)
I understand Bajans are very prideful people but let's call a spade a spade. An adjustment is needed, it is just a matter of when. It will be painful since they have no money to create stimulus so the only other option is cutbacks. If they are at the point of needing to borrow from the national pension plan to pay salaries (as nearby Grenada did) then things are indeed dire. As I said I heard this from a friend who lives there though so cannot confirm as yet if that is true. Everything else is factual.
Things are bad in Barbados. The economy is getting better but very slowly.
its standard of living still trumps that of Trinidad's.
Who`s comparing? I never said it didn`t. Barbados has done very well with limited income and resources.
Trinidad`s economy is much more resilient, diversified and industrialized but the money spent hasn`t brought the standard of living on average to the level of Barbados.
As an aside:
I have no desire to get into a war of words about Barbados vs Trinidad. Your typical Trinidadian speaks/thinks about Barbados roughly never and has slim to no interest in what goes on over there (apart from the beach of course) as there is no Bajan influence here. Sort of like how much Americans think/talk about Canada. But I do know that Barbados and other islands (except maybe Jamaica) cannot help but think about Trinidad as there are Trinidadian banks, Trinidadian large manufacturers, Trinidadian products filling the grocery shelves. So that causes some animosity, naturally.... I will always remember when the Guyanese protested a Trinidadian conglomerate buying over their largest beer factory, this after Trinidad has forgiven hundreds of millions of debt for them due to their inability to pay. Or how happy Bajans were when the Trinidadian owned Royal Bank was bought over by Canadians and became RBC again.
I am an anomaly as these incidents bother me. Most Trinis are totally unaware of the animosity or if they know,they don't care at all.
Who`s comparing? I never said it didn`t. Barbados has done very well with limited income and resources.
Trinidad`s economy is much more resilient, diversified and industrialized but the money spent hasn`t brought the standard of living on average to the level of Barbados.
As an aside:
I have no desire to get into a war of words about Barbados vs Trinidad. Your typical Trinidadian speaks/thinks about Barbados roughly never and has slim to no interest in what goes on over there (apart from the beach of course) as there is no Bajan influence here. Sort of like how much Americans think/talk about Canada. But I do know that Barbados and other islands (except maybe Jamaica) cannot help but think about Trinidad as there are Trinidadian banks, Trinidadian large manufacturers, Trinidadian products filling the grocery shelves. So that causes some animosity, naturally.... I will always remember when the Guyanese protested a Trinidadian conglomerate buying over their largest beer factory, this after Trinidad has forgiven hundreds of millions of debt for them due to their inability to pay. Or how happy Bajans were when the Trinidadian owned Royal Bank was bought over by Canadians and became RBC again.
I am an anomaly as these incidents bother me. Most Trinis are totally unaware of the animosity or if they know,they don't care at all.
I give Trinidad the edges for its industrialization and resources. Outside of commerce, it's in the same rank as its neighbors. I would rather have a Barbadian passport than a Trinidadian. If I visit Europe, I wouldn't want to only spend my time in the UK.
Has T&T's commercial success translate into better infrastructure for its citizens?
I give Trinidad the edges for its industrialization and resources. Outside of commerce, it's in the same rank as its neighbors. I would rather have a Barbadian passport than a Trinidadian. If I visit Europe, I wouldn't want to only spend my time in the UK.
Has T&T's commercial success translate into better infrastructure for its citizens?
Have you ever been to Trinidad? We are really not badly off at all here and it shows. Our physical infrastructure is better than Barbados but I don't think that's a fair comparison as Barbados is so much smaller and the current infrastructure suits their needs quite well.
I liken the differences between Trinidad and Barbados to that of US and Canada.
The US has large industry with more economic influence that can be felt all over Canada but not really vice versa. However you will never ever find a ghetto in Canada that is comparable to that of the ghettos of Detroit or New Orleans. Canadians are also supremely well taken care of regarding health care and social services.
Similarly I didn't see any bad poverty in Barbados like you can find in certain parts of Trinidad. Public health care in Barbados is also much better than Trinidad. Bajans also get free education from primary to tertiary for many years now (Trinidad only started that about 10 years ago). I admire how forward thinking and resourceful Bajans are. As opposed to Trinidadians who prefer to just throw money at a problem and hope it resolves itself. Barbados would have probably been like Singapore by now if they had had the amount of money Trinidad did.
I'd say the city of Montego Bay, Jamaica is by far and away the most developed city in the carribean, by far and away luxury cars at every corner, highly developed and good roads and highways, excellent private hospitals, and lots of mansions and large properties. I'd venture to say it is even more developed than Miami and is the richest city in the entire carribean ocean.
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