FOR SHEER BALANCE, the NATION’s columnist Peter Wickham should get top marks. Never mind what some guest said on Friday in the newspapers. I enjoy reading his columns. Over the past few weeks I missed his column and wondered if, like the Wild Coot, he had succumbed to some non-communicable illness – diabetes stalks the land. However, his contribution on Sunday, October 9, on Page 27 was brilliant and balanced.
Although I am a product of Roebuck St Boys’ school where there was influence from the Moravian Church (most of our school hymns came from there); although I am a product of the Anglican Church’s influence of Harrison College in as much as every morning we were subjected to morning prayers and the need to study the Bible up to fifth form (I have divinity at O’ level); although I came under the influence of the Plymouth Brethren Church from age nine to age 20; although I am a practising Anglican, I feel that religion should not be thrust upon an individual. I got lashes at elementary school for not knowing the words of a hymn.
Peter Wickham’s stance, as I understand it, is that people should be free to engage in religion or to opt not to have it part of their lives. It should not be thrust upon them either by the Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Muslim or Rastafarian sector. His article is balanced and worth reading.
Another fellow whose contribution I enjoy, although I do not always agree with his conclusions, is our northern Behind The Headlines columnist who this week has highlighted the dilemma that Barbados faces in as much as its law books still oppose same-sex coupling. Here again religion plays a great part, as it is well known that the churches are steadfast in their belief that the law of buggery should remain, even though the country may be ostracised by the growing LGBT community travel arrangements. Here the church seems to pick and choose which parts of Exodus and Leviticus it will live by and which parts it will ignore. Do preachers not know of Barbadian penchant for pork, shrimp, black pudding and the legal endorsement of a five-year live with? Forsooth how can you just ignore the exhortations of Deuteronomy 22: 13-30? The preachers take the liberty of an open lectern and a captive audience to therefore preach a message of select criticism.
My reading of the BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY of October 10, 2016, drew my attention to an article by Shawn Cumberbatch. He is quoting the CIBC world market macro strategist as recommending a US$350 million Barbados bond to international investors. This seems closely related to the 20-year US$150 million of 2001 and the 12-year US$200 million of 2010, bonds maturing in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Does this mean that the US bonds at maturity may not get payment? Is this why the US$350 million bonds are recommended now to replace these maturing bonds? Will the price still be 7.5 per cent now that we have been further downgraded? I might be speaking out of turn as our housekeeping might be in place to provide a sinking fund for the US$350 million in US dollars. In any case, what will we do if the interest rate is ten per cent? I am not holding my breath.
Another reading that caught the attention of the Wild Coot on the weekend was the contribution of Oliver Gale of Bitt Inc. on Page 10 of the BUSINESS AUTHORITY. He is speaking about the touted digital currency of which Barbadians are advised to get a deeper understanding as the closing of our indigenous correspondent banking arrangements threatens. It would be good if Mr Gale could expound on his recommendation of the Bitt coin that, according to him, “was founded in 2012 by Gabriel Abed and Oliver Gale and in 2016 ‘digitised’ Central Bank of Barbados first currency on the blockchain”. I believe that Barbadians would like to know the downside of participation.
What the managing director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde pointed out as “bold steps” taken by the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union to consolidate their national crime regulatory bodies in one regional operation under the Eastern Caribbean Bank, does not drive the process another iota in the problem of correspondent banking and de-risking. Our banks have been consolidating this position for years and so far the Wild Coot is not aware of any Caribbean bank being responsible for any fine on a correspondent bank. Perhaps because of her closeness to Washington, she could use her considerable influence to get Washington to re-examine the law of FATCA and its perversion throughout the world, considering that the 2007 world fiasco was initiated in the US.
• Harry Russell is a banker. Email: quijote70@gmail.com