“Turnquest, Cooper offer opposing views on Moody’s unchanged rating” – The Nassau Guardian, Business

Excerpt from this article; “Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest said in a statement on Tuesday that credit rating agency Moody’s unchanged rating for The Bahamas at Baa3 with a negative outlook, reflects stabilization in the country’s credit profile.

However, Exuma and Ragged Island Member of Parliament Chester Cooper, who is the opposition shadow minister for finance, said the unchanged rating indicates Moody’s lack of confidence in the government’s efforts to improve the economy in any significant way.

In a credit opinion issued on Tuesday, Moody’s held its existing credit rating, citing the country’s weak economic strength and increased debt and interest burdens as factors for its decision.

The credit opinion warned that the country could face a downgrade in the next year to year-and-a-half if the government’s fiscal consolidation efforts do not ‘reduce deficits to levels that  would reverse the trend of rising debt ratios and lead to a stabilization in the government’s debt ratio.”

So we have one report and two different opinions; of course we all would expect Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance; the Hon. Peter Turnquest to see the “glass as half full’, as he defends the efforts of the governing Free National Movement (FNM) to bring the country’s finances under control and yes, we would expect the Hon. Chester Cooper, Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) member of parliament for Exuma and Ragged Island and the opposition’s shadow minister of finance to see the glass as “half empty”, as he attempts to discredit the government’s efforts but Mr. Cooper needs to be very careful as in doing so he is possibly exposing the former Progressive Liberal Party government for the inept, incompetent and lazy government that led to their crushing defeat at the polls in the last general election.

Indeed, Mr. Cooper needs to be very careful and first enquire as to why the glass was “half empty” and in need of ‘repair’ (stabilization) in the first place.  I suggest he looks at the country’s finances during the period the 2012 – 2017 where the country went through four downgrades, a period of time that Mr. Cooper seems to be unaware of, to help him get a better understanding of what is actually is going on today.

While both views may be technically correct about the glasses capacity and present state, the fact is  that it is now stabilized at half its capacity and not set to lose anymore of its content if the present government does not stray away from its current path of fiscal responsibility; so while, Mr. Copper may technically be correct in saying “Rating indicates Moody’s lack of confidence in govt’s effort to improve economy”, he must also admit that ‘something’ right has been done to keep the credit rating stabilized and only time can speak to whether his assessment of Moody’s rating opinion holds any merit.

END