Reading yesterdays Tribune, I could not help but get this odd but familiar feeling of déjà vu; it was as if I had heard what was being said all before.

“Govt. on ‘course of correction’ after downgrade announcement” – The Tribune 28^th December 2016

Excerpt from this article; “The government is charting a course of correction and fiscal responsibility, Prime Minister Perry Christie insisted earlier this week as he cautioned those who may be alarmed over the recent decision by international; credit rating agency Standard &Poor’s (S&P) to downgrade the country’s credit rating to ‘junk’ status.

In an interview with The Tribune during the Boxing Day Junkanoo Parade, Mr. Christie called for calm amidst the concern that has arisen in wake of S&P’s announcement.

He said his administration ‘sit comfortable’ with the move as it sees it a ‘simple misunderstanding with timing’, contending that(S&P) sees positive economic growth on the horizon for The Bahamas, nut until 2018.”

“A ‘simple misunderstanding with timing”……Really?!

At this point I can only say that the Prime Minister has taken pointless to a whole new level, as he continues to view the average Bahamian citizen as being totally ignorant; because it would be my opinion that one would have to be totally ignorant or just plain stupid to actually believe that this Christie led Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) government has an economic ‘handle’ on the fiscal affairs of the country, given their past performance.

So now we are about to enter the year 2017 with four downgrades in as many years and are being asked by the Prime Minister/Minister of Finance and his government to be ‘calm’, but there is real reason to be alarmed Mr. Prime Minister/Minister of Finance, because we have been through this with you and your government before and that time did not work out to well for us either and now we seem to have you conceding the fact that your government has not been on course for the past four and half years.

Remember this Mr. Prime Minister/Minister of Finance when you sent your Minister of State for Finance to tell us basically the same nonsense you are attempting to feed to us now?

“Govt. not worried – Halkitis: Govt. knows what to do to prevent Moody’s downgrade” – The Nassau Guardian; July 5^th 2016

Excerpt from this article; “Minister of State for Finance Michael Halkitis said yesterday that the government is not worried by an announcement by the ratings agency Moody’s that it is likely to downgrade The Bahamas’ credit rating within 60 days.

Halkitis said the Christie administration knows what to do to address the concerns raised by Moody’s and it is committed to doing it.”, by August of the same year Moody’s had downgraded The Bahamas’ credit rating to Baa3 , with a stable outlook; this under a government that claimed that knew what to do and was committed to doing it, now the very same government claims to be ‘charting a course of correction and fiscal responsibility’, the odd thing is that these were two things that this very same government claimed to be committed to when they took office in 2010 and reformed the tax system and introduce value-Added Tax (VAT); which to date had exceeded all expectations, collecting over a billion dollars ($1 bn).

It is clear that either the Christie administration has failed at its plans, if they indeed had any to begin with, or just do not know what they are doing  or both; they have failed simply because of the fact that they are out of their depth and have been from Day One.

The Progressive Liberal Party fails for one reason, it is their nature.

END