Gov’t secures $155m loan
(CNS): The government’s cash flow situation improved Monday following confirmation that financing has been found for the $155 million it needs to plug this year’s public spending gap, but questions are already being asked about how the loan package may have been put together and the players involved. According to a statement from government, the money will be coming from Cohen and Company Securities LLC, a global firm headquartered in New York. However, sources have revealed to CNS that the bid was not one recommended by the Central Tenders Committee. “The proposal that was accepted was extremely competitive,” Premier McKeeva Bush said in the statement.
“The solution from Cohen and Company enables the government to benefit from the current very low interest rate environment while limiting our maximum interest rate over the entire life of the facility. This structure was the lowest rate among all of the fixed interest rate solutions presented to the government from firms who could deliver the funding to the Government on time,” the premier said.
Government says it has secured the required bridge financing and the bond arrangement process is underway, but the terms of the long term financing are still being finalised as this depends on actual market rates on the day.
Bush said that last year government had secured financing at a rate of 5.95% but as a result of the low interest rate climate it was able to secure a much lower cost of funding this time. Though the likely rate has not yet been revealed, Bush said it was competitive because of the “highly competitive nature and innovative solution offered by Cohen and Company.”
Cohen & Company is an investment firm specializing in credit related fixed income products and investments which is listed as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange. The firm manages approximately $10.6 billion in fixed income assets in a variety of asset classes, including US trust preferred securities, European hybrid capital securities, Asian commercial real estate debt, and mortgage- and asset-backed securities.
Stuart Sugarman, Senior Managing Director of Cohen and Company, said that the firm was pleased to be involved in providing financing to the Cayman Islands Government. “We were particularly pleased to be working with the Cayman Islands as a well respected and high grade jurisdiction to assist with this financing which will in part fund important infrastructure projects in the Cayman Islands,” Sugarman said.
However, according to CNS sources, the firm is believed to have connections to the ruling United Democratic Party via Peter Young, its treasurer and business partner of the minister for health. When asked by CNS if he had involvement in the firm, Young did not deny a connection which is believed to be with Cohen’s Cayman based entities. This evening government said that Young had no involvement at all with the financial arrangements between government and Cohen and Company.
However, the selection of Cohen and Company was not recommended by the Central Tenders Committee. The CTC closed the invitation to tender to provide long term government financing on 9 September as it had expected to draw on half the loan amount by 24 September.
In today’s statement from the premier’s office there was no mention of the CTC’s recommendations and CNS understands that it had recommended that government select a joint venture by two local banks. It appears this bid was rejected by government in favour of Cohen and Company.
Concerns of irregularities in the decision to choose Cohen had been raised in a number of quarters and the opposition had before today’s announcement submitted a parliamentary question to government, to be asked at next week’s sitting of the Legislative Assembly, regarding the loan.
Alden McLaughlin had asked if government had secured the necessary financing for the US$185,000,000 of approved borrowing in the 2010/2011 budget and, if so, from whom and on what terms? Following today’s statement, McLaughlin told CNS he had concerns that the proper process had not been followed.
“I have very grave concerns that the government did not follow the proper process and has not selected a bid recommended by the CTC and instead has chosen a financing package from another source,” he said.
With revenue levels still falling short of expectations, government has been struggling to meet day to day expenses. The loan is intended to help it meet payments on capital projects such as the schools and the government office accommodation building, as well as various investments in statutory authorities, including the Turtle Farm and Cayman Airways.
Category: Headline News
More vacation money for Big Mac and Friends!
A quote I find meaningful at this stage of our country’s life.
"Our worst enemies here are not the ignorant and simple, however cruel; our worst enemies are the intelligent and corrupt."
Graham Greene – The Human Factor (1978)
Well said.
No one has a problem with ‘corruption’, ‘government over-spending’, poor decision making as long as they are the beneficiaries directly or indirectly.
That goes for Caymanians, expats, small town constituents and big business interests.
It is more shameful and arguably more impacting across society when the intelligent are involved and encouraging such behaviour.
Wow weeeeeeee, now it’s time to SPEND SPEND SPEND !!!!
Then you will hear and see "ugly crying" around FEB-MARCH 2011, as there will be a short fall in cash to pay civil servants monthly salaries and other government debts.
I’m intrigued that many comments are about the fact that a loan was taken at all. We all knew it was coming from the budget, so the loan amount isn’t really a surprise. What surprises me is the seeming lack of interest regarding how the loan was taken. The CTC chose the loan that best served gov’t’s and the community’s interests – from local institutions with competitive interest rates who would also be more likely to exhibit patience with gov’t during loan repayment as context dictates. Instead the loan is made by a company that was not recommended that has implicated ties to a member of the UDP party and people aren’t raising hell? This is as equally bad as the special concessions made to the Ritz XXXX
"This structure was the lowest rate among all of the fixed interest rate solutions presented to the government from firms who could deliver the funding to the Government on time,” the premier said.
XXXX
(1) not surprising. the RFP was not for fixed interest rate bids so no other bidder submitted that.
(2) this means the Government (the only rated entity in Cayman) are not able to secure viable financing from the usual sources – i.e. local retail banks
(3) the local banks actually contribute directly to the Cayman economy, pay high licensing fees, insurance and business overheads, give scholarships and sponsor community programs and employ thousands of people including Caymanians.
Where is to trickle down affect – why is this brainiack allowing interest to leave this island? Does he understand how much value has been lost by the simple fact these funds will never be used for any economic activity here.
National savings bonds would be just another form of borrowing. Anonymous at 03.43 below is on the wrong track with that idea. The danger already exists that the politicians will force our private Pension Funds to invest in Cayman Islands Government Bonds. If that happens, we will all have the opportunity to watch our savings be wasted on overseas junkets and domestic extravagances.
What is hard to fathom is why the UK is letting this happen. There was a time when Britain expressed some concern about the extent of its contingent liabilities – including guarantees for its colonies’ borrowings. If Britain is NOT guaranteeing this loan, then the interest-rate will be a lot higher than is being discussed.
I find it strange that the bloggers in this political blog do not know anything about this loan. It was part of the BUDGET and was advertised several months ago. It was approved by the UK in June. The reason this loan was needed was simply because the cost of government coupled with the cost of finishing the past government’s projects was less than expected revenue. The private sector did not accept any increases or taxes and the Civil Service balked at 3% cut so the government borrowed to pay the civil service and to finish the GOAP and schools. Simple. They also added to that deficit budget, the cost to keep the untouchable Cayman Airways subsidizing our tourist tickets and our boxes from Miami. And lets not forget the untouchable Turtle Farm- got to have our stew. We cannot have our cake and eat it as well, pure and simple. This loan was agreed with the UK 6 months ago and that is what this loan is for. Is it ridiculous that we as a small country had to borrow $185M to balance our budget-YES. Is there a solution-YES, cut the cost of government including reducing the $22,000,000 PER MONTH going to civil service salaries alone. If you are blogging silly comments about the government having to borrow this money you need to blame the last Government for outspending their income. blame the recession and blame the current government for not having the GUTS TO CUT WHERE CUTS ARE NEEDED!!! So instead of silly Blogs, go do something, be productive, convince a civil servant to jump ship and help your country in a proactive manner.
185 million dollars in the hands of Big Mac and the UDP! Troubling indeed!
This is very serious. Its borrowed money and we must hold them accountable from now keeping them honest every step of the way.
1. To promote transparency the public needs a list of the projects the premier claims need to be developed from such funds. No hidden agenda AND NO SURPRISES!.
2. We need PROOF that these projects are viable and necessary, Not just some political reckless scheme.
3. We need TOTAL TRANSPARENCY IN SPENDING. Upon Each Draw Down of funds for each project the public MUST RECEIVE PUBLIC NOTICE OF SUCH MONIES DRAWN FROM SUCH LOAN, IN A REASONABLE AND TIMELY MANNER.
lastly, I’m a bit troubled because the look of glee on Big Mac’s face looks like he personally won he lottery! People do whatever they like with lottery money!
I agree such a large amount of money in the hands of Mac Bush and Miss Julie is indeed troubling since transparency does not exist.
Oh please!!! This loan was secured LONG before you read about it here on CNS. You can tell the Govt just got some more ‘pocket money’… Read between the lines:
Govt are in debt 360,000,000 $ (approx) NOT including this NEW 155,000,000 $ loan!!!! Don’t forget the 5.95% interest that Bush estimates (… so really, it will be more like 7.5%!). – They go gallivanting around the planet 1st class to Russia, Sweden and Monaco, only to attend ‘meetings’ along the lines of "Environmental Recycling" and "Going Green", something which they have about as much interest in as "Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Equalities"!!!! – But, only after they buy each other 60,000 $ S.U.V.s complete with interior flat screens (…because you really need that here on long commutes…), ‘give away’ a few other S.U.V.s, get a chauffeur, build new fences around their properties, cheat on their wives, get investigated for corruption and be home in time for tea before you can say "beat me with a bull’s penis!"
It’s like giving irresponsible kids spending money: It’s going to be squandered before it even gets into their pockets!
Phew!… It’s a good job we DONT need an effectively trained police force, DONT need to finish building schools on Frank Sound Rd, DONT need to combat violent crime, DONT need to boost tourism back to what it was in the late 90’s, Don’t need to….. (I’ll let you fill in the rest…).
I’m looking into my Crystal Ball… And it says "TAX as of 2012"!!! (…if not sooner.)
For those of you unfamiliar with taxes, you’ll love this: To begin (and for simplicity…), for every 100 $ you earn, the Govt (CI or UK Govt – does not matter…!) will take 40 $ off you. If you try and cheat on your taxes, a privatized organization (YES! It’s a non Govt organization – RESEARCH IT! It just ‘masquerades’ as a Govt body) called the IRS will find you. If they can find people in a country with 360 million residents, doing it on a small 101 sq mile island with only 50 thousand residents shouldn’t be too ‘taxing‘… Oh, that was funny!
But by then, the on island population will be more like 25 – 35 thousand because all the lawyers, accountants, hedge fund managers, investors, financial bankers, accomplished doctors and surgeons and ‘alike’ will have ‘fled’ on to the next paradise, possibly the Bahamas, who funny enough, according to local media and press ARE actively looking for investors!
Back to the taxes!
‘Tax Brackets’ may be implemented: Depending on how much you earn, you will be ‘placed’ into a tax bracket. FYI, it’s usually the people that make between 40-70,000 $ / year get hammered the hardest on the % scale!
There will also be this nasty little thing called V.A.T. – Value Added Tax! It runs on 17.2 % on everything you buy from cigarettes, alcohol, gas, groceries, clothes, airlines, hotels, vehicles etc etc etc. – I cant begin to tell you how many OTHER taxes there are….
And all this possible future can be attributed to a Govt that was not accountable for anything and behaved in a manner unbecoming of a decent Govt representative(s) and ambassador of theCayman Islands .
SERIOUSLY! – How the hell does a tiny Govt of such a tiny island get into such a ridiculously huge debt???!!! – No wonder they’re considering dropping the role over policy time to 1 month off island for Ex-Pats:- They’re going to need every “Tom, Dick and Harry” on island available to pay these imminent taxes! – The more people on island, the more taxes get paid!!! – Interesting why there’s so much focus on the ‘Census’ this time round… Could it be a probe on how many individuals are available and eligible to pay these taxes..? After all, it would give the Govt a fairly accurate projected / estimated figure…
…I’m just saying…
the tax mon commith due to no new income streams and no long term planning.
Excellent post and very informative!
I am scared of this new loan too, if weare already in debt and cannot pay bills then how will paying bills and the loan help? I guess the lenders can repossess a few protocol cars and MLA fences if we fall back on a few monthly payments.
http://www.finra.org/Investors/ToolsCalculators/BrokerCheck/
Go to the above website follow the prompts and where it is has
FINRA BrokerCheck – Simple Search
enter 104002
select "Brokerage Firm"
select "Start Search"
Click on the Cohen and Securities LLC link to get access to the file and then click on "Get Detailed Report"
The company is registered as a broker-dealer and unless it is a very loose interpretation on lending to foreign governments I was unable to find such a description under the "Types of business" summary.
Also check on the http://www.adviserinfo.sec.gov/(S(gqcn2j45k1drbi45dvrvck45))/IAPD/Content/Search/iapd_Search.aspx which is the SEC Investor Advisor search engine. Search for SEC # 801 63845
which is Cohen & Company Financial Management LLC a very tangled web of affiliated companies be sure to review Schedule D to see a list of all the related companies and majority owners.
Seriously CNS you can post their links but you can’t post mine?
CNS: As far as I can tell your link had nothing to do with any of the people involved in this story. Hint: It’s a common name. You can’t just google and assume.
Nearly 10% of this loan is earmarked for the annual bailouts of the Turtle Farm ($9.5mln) and Cayman Airways ($5mln). It begs the question, will there ever be a serious public discussion about the viability of those projects?
There are many things wrong with this. As to why the present Elected government is borrowing and where the borrowed funds will be spent, those are very good questions. Regardless of the anwer, the Government, now meaning all of us will have to repay the loan so why not at least benefit from the higher interest rates?
McKeeva Bush brags about the low interest rate on the loan. However, that looks pretty attractive to me being stuck with a next to zero rate on the few dollars (cents actually) that I am able to save.
I would like to see Government raise some of the funds through national saving bonds or something similar so that we all have an opportujnity to participate. If they had listened to advice from others including the opposition MLA’s like Kurt Tibbetts and Alden McLaughlin, they wouild have had plenty of time to organise Government funding in an orderly fashion.But then again that would mean followig best practices and their financiers, buddies and cronies wouldn’t be so happy with the outcome compared to the country as a whole.
Let’s do some number crunching: Last year in November $312 million, now $155 million. Together $467 million. How many people are living in Cayman? 50,000? This means, that for every resident in Cayman the government has approx. $9,340 of new debt created – on top of the already existing debt. Within 13 months. Not good. If I would be Caymanian, I would be concerned. Because there are not 50,000 Caymanians. Didn’t some politicians try to scare us with the slogan "27,000 Work Permits"? Let’s say there are 20,000 work permits with a few dependents… In the end, I would estimate that we have approx. 20,000 Caymanians (let’s see what the census will bring us – the census guys never came to my house, and I live in George Town and was the last weekends at home – therefore I don’t trust the census figures, because I know that I’m not included…).
However, $467 million divided by 20,000 is $23,350 – that is the real debt for every Caymanian… woman, man, grand-father and new-born. Within 13 months. New debt.
That is scary. Alone the interest (let’s assume 5%) means that every Caymanian has to pay $1,167 more per year – only because of these two new loans.
The work-permit holders will one day get rolled-over and go with their savings back home – you Caymanians stay here with your debt. I’m a very optimistic person and I want to see this island develop and become an even better place – however, these facts scare me.
If you are a Caymanian family (father, mother, 2 children) – then you guys have now approx. $100,000 more debt. Do you think the government provided you last year with services that are worth $100,000? Has the infrastructure of Cayman improved so much that this amount would be justified?
Yes, Government builds some new schools (now, at a moment when the population is drastically shrinking), and Government is building a new Government-Building… but wasn’t that building supposed to be sold and leased back? I like figures, but what happens here in Cayman at the moment is even for me too much.
Government throws with money around like it goes out of fashion tomorrow. Look at what England has announced last week. Those are drastic measures. Those are solutions to a problem. Cayman is not looking for solutions. Cayman is buying time. Cayman’s children and grand-children will have to pay later in their lives for the sins of the current government.
I’m afraid we are in for an very unpleasant ride. Maybe the Government is doing the right thing. Enjoy the party while you can. Borrow as much money as you can get – and then blow it. Have fun. Travel, buy fancy fences, new cars – just spend the money. The last trouser has no pocket. We can worry tomorrow about the financial industry, that gets more and more regulated by Americans and Europeans. We worry tomorrow about the tourism. Today we party. We feel like a 20 year old that won the lottery jackpot. Hey, let’s get Ferraris. Let’s have the time of our lives.
I start to love this government. The guys are right. Worry when you are dead. While you are alive, spend other people’s money. Where can I sign upfor the free SUVs?
The Banker, this is a very good post! Thanks for that!
Grave concerns about this new loan are entirely waranted.
Borrowers in distress always receive the worst of all deals. Unfortunately, that is a fact of life.
The first question which must be asked is about the interest rate being paid, and the length of the loan. Is this a fixed interest loan, or one in which the interest can escalate?
According to the letter from Truman Bodden, it is already costing Cayman no less than $85 million dollars a year to merely service its existing debt.
The people who own this debt are none other than the Cayman people, exclusive of any expats. Assuming there are 30,000 such people, the sharefor each man, woman, or child is about $3000.00 each. or $12,000.00 per year per Caymanian family.
And remember that this does not include any paydown of the debt.
The Government here is the problem, and not the solution. There is no way that the current economy can possibly support a government of the size and inefficiency we have.
Something has to give. and it had better not be the private sector. for if that gives, we may as well kiss the Cayman Islands goodbye.
The apparent self interest XXXXX of the current Government has ensured that absolutely nothing is done for the country and its people. These deals are intended to benefit “those in power” or the membership that has proven its loyalty together with the large developers and financiers who support and ‘partner’ the key decision makers. This is a classic tale of greed, manipulation and corruption.
The sad thing about the rhetoric is each one of them (Mac, CG, Mark, Julie and Elio) talk about being Christian. Each quote God, the good book and their faith at every opportunity yet are no different from the thieves in the temple.
If this is what they meant by providing a "Better way forward" they forgot to mention that it was really a better way forward for them because they really aren’t too concerned about the welfare of the country, us and our beloved Cayman Isles.
These selfish politicians have served themselves at the expense of the people they claim to represent.
And as for having the gall to bring God into this, well I implore the living God to judge these XXXX in full view of the people.
Great. We have now borrowed some more money to squander on the bloated civil service (and bloated civil servants), but which will just help tip Cayman over the edge into direct taxation and the end of our two best industries. I hope the civil service union is proud of their selfishness.
Let’s see. Civil servants have taken pay cuts (albeit small ones) and lost jobs. Meanwhile, Ministers of Cabinet have been jet setting all over the world. The civil servants I know have been anything but selfish. Might the spending problem lie elsewhere?
Now, to claim that all of government’s fiscal problems are the result of a "bloated civil service" is a bit ignorant. If you could read a newspaper, you would know that governments the world over are struggling with a number of economic problems. That is part of what is happening here.
Good try but there is still too much paid and over paid non productive Government that is not hard to see with our own eyes. Just try to get something done through any Government entity. And for those who are used to poor service thats not the way its done everywhere. Civil service is still Bloated and a poor performer for all the money being spent on keeping it going. But if you are ignorant to start with and one of the many paid voters of the flying bushman tribe I see your point. Spend our money wisely as we have already run out.
I am not ignorant of the issues with the civil service. But I would maintain that lavish spending on government projects and unnecessarily wasteful spending by government are the biggest financial issues facing the Cayman Islands.
you obviously haven’t read the miller shaw report!
Not the entire thing. And there seems to be some debate over the findings of the report. As noted elsewhere, it is not the "be all to end all".
By the way, is there a link to the report somewhere. I could not find it.
CNS: Click here Miller Shaw Report. We have plans to set up a library.
What is absolutely amazing is that the same people who curse the UDP without mercy, people who query the motivations of every decision made by this Government, and people who generally think that McKeever is a joke place their full hope and trust in the Miller Shaw report.
This cracker-jack report masquerading as research was not independent. They were conveniently guided by a mysterious invisible force in order to skew their focus
It did not achieve what it was mandated to do- examine alternative sources of revenue.
The findings were hastily pieced together were shallow and filled with alot of suggestions and no real meat/solutions.
So to all the high-flier intellectuals who flood this blog, would you accept this type of work from someone who you were paying? You don’t accept it from the civil service so don’t accept it from Miller Shaw and their crackpot report.
Whydidn’t they speak about Government spending and wasteful actions? Well if they criticized the money wasted on consultants, then they wouldn’t get paid.
Yes it is certainly the civil service’s fault. Our weak and powerless MLA’s can’t do anything about it. Civil servants control the country and no one else has a say.
Our poor two best industries, they have no union to represent them and their little voices are like pip-squeaks in the corner. Poor Tourism….Poor Financial Services. So weak and helpless. They are going to fold and go under tomorrow all because of civil servants.
Cayman is really sunk. How pathetic.
Oh please, it’s McKeever and his cronies jet setting all over the world that is spending the money. The civil servants took pay cuts which you might not think is much but when you are making less than little money every penny counts. That pay cut was 1 weeks groceries, a phone bill, a water bill, etc.
Selfish, my behind. Civil servants are working overtime with no pay or comp time back plus a pay cut.
I am ashame of every MLA that has been elected. The people elected you for all of your prmoises to make our Islands a better place to live and for others to visit. How can each one of you sleep at night knowing that you are sitting your duffs and letting one man distroy our island. He is selling our birth rights. Tell me some thing, what is going to happen to your great great children ? Do any of you even care what is happening or are you all just along for the ride. Do any of you have any xxxxs to say enough is enough and stop this man before all of us end up in the poor house ? Look at yourself in the mirror before you go to bed and ask yourself this question " Who am I and what do I stand for ?" A lot of you had promise your people " A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage". Well some of us can barely afford chicken feet much less the car, which is in somebodys else garage. Well it is time for a change. President Kennedy once said " Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country " So tell us what you MLAs are going to do.
They will do what they have been trained to do. Take as much as possible and then try to get away with it. Which is why NO Audits for the last 6 years and only when they can have the time and chance to "fix" them will they be released. With their limited education and past exploits that should take a few more years. As usual the people of Cayman will get excuses and not the truth. But so far that seems to be enough for them. Candy from a baby.
Well I guess that’s one way to pay for McKeeva’s yard fence
What a sense of Humor Adonai has! Jews not recognized by the Census / Government but now they are borrowing money from a Cohen (Priest in Hebrew). How do I know? My mother’s mother was a Cohen- a Jew not recognized as well. Ironic and funny the same time LOL!
Shalom Ya’ll.
The Writing is on the Wall in bright bold Fluorescent paint
Cayman Islands you must take to the streets in protest and demand good governance from all members of Parliament because sitting in silence is just cause for them to continue with their unyielding thrust for absolute power. Please note, all of what you think you have now i.e. businesses, property, cash in the bank could very well be lost simply because of one individual’s ego.
Hey you Moron! Yeah you the thumbs down Poster!!!
I am befuddled (confused / puzzled {alternate definition for you the small minded poster}) by the moron who gave a thumbs down on this one! Oh wait you must be the one idiot who is putting a thumbs down on every logical post on this article. It is reckless people like you that consistently put this tyrant and his cronies back in power year after year to your ruin and ultimately that of your loved ones!
let go get some new cars for everybody in Government and drivers while your at it………….why don’t they try to downsize the civil service, oohhh forgot nobody has the balls to do that!!!!!!!
There is a commercial on tv of a man who sees a pretty plumber going in the next building and decides to stop up his toilet by throwing items in it. That reminds me of what is happening to Cayman today.
If we don’t have the monies don’t spend it on trips and cars and having Dart build a dock that will cost around 200 million dollars. Don’t people understand that the monies that come from the cruise lines to the government will then go to Dart. A dock in East End will ruin the economy and ecology and drive the prices of food and everything else that comes here by ship way up.
Seriously people! XXXX as an outsider, i REALLY don’t understand why the caymanian people keep going along with this. a small minority is vocal, but other than 2 or 3 key people, no one is DOING anything. It seems to me you can now see actual results ON THE STREETS, of the years and years of poor governing, and selfish, self-consumed leadership. I am not caymanian and so obviously don’t understand all the "ins and outs" of things, but why there isn’t outrage? is it cultural somehow? good luck to all of you. i see a very grim future over the next 5 years or so. caymanian people are wonderful- you deserve better.
That is exactly the amount required for 1 luxury trip every two weeks for the Premier and his friends for the next 2 years. What a coincidence.
OK Governor the ball is in your court now. What are you going to do to ensure good governance in the Cayman Islands? This government should disband the CTC to save time and money. After all the government is not following the CTC’s recommendations.
do you mean our ghost governor? he’s only a myth…..
What Governor? Do we have one?
Has anyone stopped to think that the Governor is doing exactly what he is supposed to do which is to allow our manic leader to run the country into the ground so he (the Governor) can squawk for help from the UK, when it is all too late.
End result, this place full of ignorant expats who think they own it, sorry, who will own the place. My dear, fellow Caymanians, your silence is deafening.
Don’t bother marching. The powers that be will put their own people in the crowd and incite violence and then a state of emergency will be declared.
End of game and you lose. But there is a way to win…….
reply 10:26:20-11.03
Cayman Islands belong to England.I say we should be voting for indipendance no use you ranting and raving about ignorant expats go indipendant and throw them all out.
‘With revenue levels still falling short of expectations, government has been struggling to meet day to day expenses.’
Where’s the vacation this week?
STOP SPENDING!!!!
There are many things seriously wrong with this! First, if as CNS reports, CTC was by-passed, Mckeeva Bush & those involved should be questioned as to why. Secondly, & most serious, government must inform the public which Caymanians, (politicians, UDP members, supporters or not) are involved with this company & the transaction, because if so involved this is a very serious case of insider trading & a conflict of interest. The Cayman people need to know what is going on, & if their is any dirt involved.
Aaaah shut up anon 15:18 before you upset this regime. All hail our great & wise leader.
Let’s hope this money is used for the right things and the people and not for fences and new cars.
Amazing that you still don’t get it. That is exactly what the money is being spent on each and every day right under your noses. I used to think this was happening because the Caymanian people were just so passive but by your post and many of the others now I know it is for a very different reason. I used to think that your premier was the most uneducated and immoral person around but you have just changed my mind. Thank You. This explains so much about why Cayman cannot turn itself from self destruction. It also explains why Cayman can not understand common sense even when you pay someone to explain it to you. I’m guessing that you are doing what you need to do to finally understand what and more importantly why hard work is the key to success and what your all doing is not. May God have mercy on poor Cayman. You all will be paying the price of allowing the the worst kind of men to lead you for the rest of your lives. Literally.
The most important question is not how the money was borrowed.
The most important question is: how will the money be paid back?
It’s like getting a credit increase on your Visa card – just because the bank said yes, despite you being broke and unemployed, you really ought not to blow the wad on things like first class airline tickets and new SUVs because you will have to pay that back sooner or later, and it costs a lot more to pay it back later after the interest adds up.
That is unless you are Mac or Julie, in which case you leave the bill to your neighbours and let them worry about paying it off whenever they can. And the interest? Not their problem.
Seriously though: revenues are not going to go back up, so spending what you can’t afford is a one-way trip into insolvency. You’ll just be deeper in debt with higher interest costs next quarter, and worse off the quarter after that…Then you’ll notice that the more you pay in interest, the less there is to pay the monthly bills, so you borrow more and the spiral tightens.
When the civil service pay-cheques start bouncing, you can say that you read it here…
You are right FC, what is the plan to repay these loans? Although luckily the credit rating allows these to be long term bonds, the next step in this fiscal disaster, is short term facilities by the IMF and/or World Bank when we get close to defaulting on these bond loans. I don’t know much about the winning bidder, but let’s just say that these investors know what they are doing. When they see a country on the ropes, they lend, lend, lend, then when the country defaults, or is about to default, call in the IMF to save the day and they guarantee payment from the debtor country. Although the price you pay is loss of all control of your economy and national sovereignty.
The proper course of action while we still have bond rating capacity is to draw down ineffective government expenditure in a controlled process and establish long term economic growth patterns. This would include bringing a new long term economic base like the hospital and University (and no I have nothing to do with Gene Thompson or the hospital). Put slowly in place an innovative tax system that does not unduly burden the small business and working class (as does the fee based structure we have now) and get away from pandering to the financial services. Per Mr. Tavers, financial services will up and leave at anytime they see a better jurisdiction. Instead of selling off our country to try and keep an industry that does not care about local people or cultures, let’s expand our tourism market and bring in medical tourism. The financial services that want to stay, can and we’ll except them under our terms.
We do need to control government spending, but we cannot do it in a hard and fast approach as neo-liberal economists are pushing down our throats. There is no know case in any country where the ‘shock therapy’ of drastically reducing government expenditure, cutting taxes, and opening up your economy to unfettered globalization has stimulated growth in the long term. It will also cause a mass migration of the educated Caymanians whom happen to work in the civil service as there will not be jobs in the private sector for them, so they will have no choice but to go somewhere else for work.
We will ten just be a vessel for corporate America, at least until our waters are so polluted you can’t swim in them (See Mexico).
Alright… Who’s the maroon who gave me the thumbs down for this post??? Did you even read it????
Mac? Julie?? Is that you???
" Mac? Julie?? Is that you???"
No, it’s Elio and CG.
Good, can I have my 3.2% back then. Kids need new shoes.
That is alot of money, I hope it is shared up fairly, and I do hope some of it is given to Children and family servies to help look after Caymanians who are having it so hard, because surprisingly if it was not for Children &Family services, some Caymanians could not eat or pay bills.
Will we be another T & C?
These beloved Cayman Isles seems to be most certainly headed for the same plight with this new Governor, this new commissioner of RCIP and this Premier.
Another Turks and Caicos for the UK to takeover. It would be the UK’s pleasure to finally get us out of the way.
Since the UK sees the Cayman Islands,a 5th leading financial center and UK territory as a threat to their business in her London. which is also a 3rd of 4th leading financial center of the world.. So why not let us hang ourselves at the hands of the premier through lavish and reckless spending living large and hastening total financial destruction. Then the UK would NOT have her most formidable tax competitor to compete with any more.
I mean the Cayman Islands.