Politics
Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne Criticizes Central Bank Report as Misrepresentative of Barbadian Economic Hardship
Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne criticizes Central Bank's report on Barbadian economy, calling it a "statistical disguise" that fails to reflect the hardships faced by many Barbadians amid conflicting economic conditions.
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Originally published by barbadostoday.bb (opens in new tab)
Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne on Friday dismissed the latest Central Bank report on the Barbadian economy as a “statistical disguise” that hides the true reality of hardship endured by thousands of Barbadians.
In a written response to Central Bank Governor Dr Kevin Greenidge’s report on the first nine months of the year, Thorne said it did not accurately portray the current state of affairs, noting that the relatively positive economic conditions presented conflicted with the hardship many are facing.
Thorne said: “If the purpose of the Central Bank report is to communicate to all Barbadians as to the state of the economy in which they exist, it has failed to connect itself to their lived reality of hardship. To the majority of Barbadians who now endure lives of daily struggle, it is appalling that they would hear that they exist within ‘favourable economic conditions’.”
Dr Greenidge reported on Wednesday that for the first nine months of the year, the economy grew 3.9 per cent, driven by tourism. He highlighted a 12.9 per cent increase in long-stay visitor arrivals and that increased summer cruise ship arrivals.
But Thorne queried: “How do you say to significant numbers of laid-off workers in tourism that the industry has done well? As a tourism project, there is no solid proof that the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup cricket tournament succeeded.”
The Central Bank also reported that arrivals from the US market surged by 32.5 per cent, exceeding pre-pandemic levels (2017–2019 average) by 10.4 per cent, though there was a slight decline in flights from the UK and Europe during the third quarter.
Thorne said the decline in British and European arrivals was deeply concerning, and he questioned if the positive statistics from the American source market were interpreted correctly.
“Any decrease from our strongest UK source market becomes very disturbing, particularly if arrivals from the UK to our Caribbean neighbours are simultaneously increasing,” he said.
“On the question of increased tourist arrivals from the US, we are entitled to ask whether those figures included persons who landed here merely to connect with their departing ships at the Bridgetown seaport. We are also entitled to ask whether the figures on arrivals from the US included a growing number of Barbadians who are shopping in the US to escape the high cost of living here, or to augment shrinking incomes by purchasing commodities in the US for profitable resale in Barbados.”
Thorne also raised scepticism about the central bank’s report that fish landings expanded by 23.9 per cent, despite disruptions caused by Hurricane Beryl which wiped out much of the island’s fishing fleet.
