Prime Minister Mia Mottley confirmed this evening that 99 per cent of the island’s creditors have agreed to back the Government’s debt restructuring exercise.
“I am happy to report that in respect to that debt exchange which involved 115 per cent of our national income or the equivalent of $1.9 billion in domestic debt and arrears, that we have had the extraordinary performance of 99 per cent of those who tendered voting yes for the domestic debt exchange. And I am told that 99 per cent of those who tendered represents more than 90 per cent of those eligible to vote,” she said in an address aired this evening.
Her revelation confirmed a Barbados TODAY report last evening, which ascertained that creditors who previously expressed reservations about the offer last week had agreed to back the plan, which proposed a haircut to interest rates and longer terms to maturity.
“I thank you on behalf of this country for that vote of confidence in our future,” Mottley said.
She added that the approval paved the way for Government to address the concerns of the island’s pensioners, scores of whom have publicly complained that they were relying on their investments for retirement income and would now be forced to live on reduced incomes.
“And I will provide the specifics on those as soon as we can, because we understand the nervousness that many still have,” Mottley assured.
The Prime Minister revealed that negotiations would also continue with external debt creditors this week and promised to provide a further update in due course.
“Once this is behind us, we will be in a position to advise the country, what will be the savings, both in interest and in terms of principal, that will allow us to move forward with certainty,” she said.
How many of us that marched against the Dees, and argued for a 23% increase will be going home?
All that going home will be dlp supporters
First the electorate gave a 30-0 mandate to the BLP on May 24 to fix the wrecked economy. Few months later investors in government securities overwhelmingly gave the go-ahead to do what is necessary to reduce the mountain of debt racked up by DLP and protect the Barbados dollar from devaluation. Two rejections of bitter Dems naysayers in short time.
@Carl Harper
Indeed you are earning your keep at the expense of public workers going home with their best ever Xmas present.
The pay you receive is justified, and I am sure the fired workers would be, and are, glad they’ve got you to explain things to them in a logical way.
The victims of BLP rage can no go to the supermarkets.
I DONT BELIEVE IT.
All we have is your word. No documented, verified by Independent sources details.
This Barbados Labour Party like to pee on you and tell you it is raining.
The DLP pee on Barbadians for TEN YEARS and NINETY DAYS and told us that it WAS pee…..like it or lump it.
How long is it going to take for you to realize that getting rid of that DEMOCRATIC LABOR PARTY clASS of 2008-2018 was the PREREQUISITE for AID.
Mr.BREADMANS’ AIDE, by the time you come to your senses the 5 years and 90 days would have gone and you and your clique will be getting ready to endure a further 5 years and 90 days of misery and confusion…I am therefore hoping and wishing for you too, a CONTINUED MISERABLE X MAS laced with bouts of confusion and torture as you are for the masses.
@Carl Harper: Let the government provide proof that 99% of the local creditors voted in favor of the dept restructuring. This is not true, and I challenge the government on this one. Many of us local creditors now affected by the local dept restructuring, have also lost our investment with the Clico situation. Remember the last government had agreed to begin the payments to Clico policy holders after there were authorized by the local courts. This B L P administration has since placed a hold on those transfers as well, so we are left holding the bag. Therefore I don’t believe that 99% of these local creditors agreed with the restructuring, the government has to produce more than just talk.
It is said that “a dying man would catch at a straw”. Anything to turn BIM around from those dark days .
We must feel the pinch before we begin to smile again.
Greengiant
99% OF the 90% of those eligible to vote!!
what wrong with DEMS yardfowls understanding ??? gosh man
Clico payback was an election gimmick to get votes! open yuh eyes man!!
DEM could even pay back years of income tax return and would have to print more money to pay for clico.
could not
greengiant
10% aint voted or voted NO
yuh understand now?
sorry 10 % aint voted
@Greengiant’ “Let the government provide proof that 99% of the local creditors voted in favor of the dept restructuring.”
The Administration does not have time to waste with such frivolity. Mia has a country to get back on its feet in shortest time possible. There are more pressing matters that demand her attention every minute of the day.
Wrap yourself in the flag and get on board!
@Carl Harper: One day I’ll probably be wrapped in the national colours with full military honours when I take my place at Graves’ End. Until such time I will demand of this administration the transparency, an accountability they campaigned on.
I’m no supporter of the two established parties so I need not be silent on their deficiencies. Only party loyalists have to defend their parties with the gimmicks historically presented by the
B L P and D L P. It always takes 10 years for their supporters to realize they’ve been duped. It hasn’t taken that long since May 24th, 2018.
The fact on the vote for acceptance is that once the NIS board and commercial banks agreed, that would of given the government the percentage they needed to pass the debt restructuring. The other small investors in terms of value held, not head count of persons holding bonds would therefore be comparable to minority shareholders at a company AGM in terms of voting power. In others words their total vote would not matter in the grand scheme of things in the end result, as it was based on value held per shareholder and not one man one vote.
Tell the Dems yardfowls, John. They only cackle loudly in here and don’t understand a thing!
The DEMS feel bad that when they had the reins NO ONE was willing to lend a helping hand and on top of that the WHOLE COUNTRY SHUT DEM DOWN and SHUT DEM OUT OF PARLIAMENT…that is what got DEM now..a NATIONAL DISGRACE
People avoided DEM like the PLAGUE…put that in wunna pipes and SMOKE it.
…and Carson C Cadogan IS the one here to feel it the MOST since he was RIGHT UP THERE but now has to operate as a commoner with the same status as that of a yard fowl or paling cock.
Carl I think a lot of people did not quite understand the way the bond restructuring was going to work. I know it was the first time anyone on the island would of experience this, as a result I think the GIS could of explained in the press and on the radio in simple terms the process. Many thought it was like a general election in that each investor would have one vote. The fact that in these cases the bond value works as the votes held, was I believe where it confused many. The truth is government did the right thing in involving all bond holders as it was not necessary in terms of reaching an approval. As I said once they had the NIS and commercial banks on board, it was a done deal as that would of satisfied the criteria for approval. What the government did was standard procedure globally under such conditions. All that was required was a bit more explanation in simple terms to the general public regarding the mechanics of it that’s all.
Wonder what gine happen at the DEMOCRATIC LABOR PARTYS’ retreat ? where wunna holding that retreat bo ?…mussee in the BOSOMS and the BOWELS of HELL…doan come back until wunna get that ALL IMPORTANT ALL CLEAR from the MASSES though
As I said before NO ONE IN THE DEMOCRATIC LABOR PARTY can REBUILD that Party…ONLY the PEOPLE can do that by VOTING wunna back in…when all ya get back in THEN and ONLY THEN all ya can say that the rebuilding has started since the FOUNDATION would have been laid and all ya can build on the confidence the MASSES would have given all ya.
Attracting more members is NOT REBUILDING…that is BUILDING UP THE PARTY.
You know the BLP nutjobs in this comment section disgusting.
You could imagine that these same people march the length and breadth of Barbados bawling and screaming about how horrible the Drainage layoffs were and how cruel it was to send home people.
Now this administration sending home public servants and now these same marchers glad? I mean they now feel proud and joyful to be sending home people. They don’t want to march now. Civil servants getting their livelihoods taken away and these people feel so happy.
The hypocrisy is stunning.
Then, on top of all of that, they are saying that it is because of the last administration that the BLP has to do this. Yet, these same people are the ones who were raging (along with the NUPW and the BWU) at the last administration for a raise in salaries for the same public workers that they are now rejoicing because they are being getting sent home.
The hypocrisy is stunning, I say.
Furthermore, all of a sudden we have to hold hands and sing kumbaya with this administration that has (by a decree of Parliament) disenfranchised hundreds of investors in Government paper, including many of the elderly who have had their savings taken away, but with the assurance :”I got this.” Of course, it is only fair that after you have stripped these people of their hard-earned funds that you should give them a little something… after all, we in this together.
Many hands make light work, right?
But nobody marching for them now.
Not even the Minister for the Elderly has anything to say respecting the matter.
Yet, these are the same people that marched the length and breadth of Barbados for the jilted CLICO crowd, demanding that Barbadian taxpayers be made to reimburse a group of people that consciously made a PRIVATE investment and who (very likely) would have made no significant contribution to the public coffers had this PRIVATE investment paid off the anticipated returns.
Of course, they are singing the “30-0” song. Every time someone even makes a suggestion or criticism they trot out the lines. Yet, they have not put forward a single national development policy initiative to the people of Barbados. Then they gave themselves an A+ because they went to the IMF.
not surprising because the BLP is never really about governance, they’re only about winning elections – indeed, they were campaigning non-stop from 2008… and they’re still campaigning, even though
they won May 24, 2018 “30-0”.
The hypocrisy is stunning, I tell you, stunning.