JAMES SMITH SAYS FNM DOESN’T UNDERSTAND MONEY

James Smith, the former Central Banker and Minister of State, made a thoughtful intervention in the press.  He said that the FNM Government was ill advised in borrowing 750 million dollars in US currency last year when they went to the market to get a loan commitment to cover their debts.  He said the loan caused the liquidity in the banking system by way of US dollar reserves to  peak at near 2 billion dollars, at a time when there are no customers in The Bahamas to whom the banks can lend money.  He said the problem with that is that  at some point the banks have to lend the money to earn income and they will start giving away money on easy credit terms to buy consumer goods which will lead to problems again.  Of course the wise and know it all Peter Turnquest, Minister of Finance, said Mr. Smith didn’t know what he was talking about.