THE CENTRAL BANK, THE DEFICIT, THE DEBT

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John Rolle, the new Governor of the Central Bank, who is friendly to the cause, was in the news last week about the deficit that the government is running in its annual budget.  He said what all good Governors of the Central Bank have to say and should say.  The deficit targets the government set for itself are going to be missed by 100 million or so dollars.  It’s going to be more like a 200 million dollars deficit. That comes on the heels of the fact that Moody’s, the ratings agency is seeking to downgrade The Bahamas bond rating to junk status.  They did for Barbados some years ago. The earth did not come to an end.  If it happens the Bahamas joins the other Caricom countries in debt problems although not in defaults.   Here’s the issue that the Minister of Finance Mike Halkitas has with Moody’s.  You do everything that they ask you to do. You met the targets and yet they say they want to downgrade you.  Once they have put that stuff in the public domain, there is no turning back.  The Minister said he is going to seek to tell them or persuade them otherwise.  Good luck there. Here’s our take.  Who gives a shit?  If the bond rating goes down, the earth won’t come to an end.   We will just have to struggle and muddle through.  We are tightening our belts anyway. But you know there is choice to be made, development and debt or no development and unemployment and penury and social unrest for the population. Either way it appears you’re fucked. So damn the torpedoes and continue to the best of our abilities.