NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE
The Isle of Man has got ‘robust finances’ and a ‘resilient economy’ say’s the international ratings agency Moody’s Investor Service (MIS).
Well that’s good news! Also they said the Isle of Man gets to keep its ‘AA1 credit rating’ this also is very good and it remains unchanged although at one time the Isle of Man had a AAA rating (the top of the tree).
Back then it was regarded almost as a portent of doom if the Island was relegated from AAA to the second division AA1. Anyway we were relegated eventually and it looks as if government don’t really mind as Manx Treasury Minister Eddie Teare is very pleased with the current MIS rating he said:
‘The Isle of Man is an international financial centre which can be relied upon by its investors to provide a stable, pro-business environment in which they can flourish and by other countries as a responsible and reliable partner. Whilst the report’s conclusions demonstrate the Isle of Man’s continued and sustained economic success, we must remain vigilant in maintaining sustainable public finances.’
Now the subtext to this is:
‘WE ARE DOING WELL BUT DON’T START ASKING FOR PAY RISES, I’M STILL GOING TO CUT PENSIONS AND BENEFITS AND YOU WILL STILL BE GETTING CHARGED FOR GOING TO THE TOILET (OH! AND ANYTHING ELSE WE CAN COME UP WITH IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS)’
Now call me old fashioned but I thought if your economy was ‘robust and resilient’ that might mean that there would be ‘a few extra shillings’ to help the struggling Manx population.
What I didn’t understand was that Moody’s, Standards and Poors and Fitch Ratings the ‘Big three’ Global credit rating agencies are there to provide guidance for investors.
Anyway you would think if they were that clever they would have seen things like the Global Financial Crisis coming years before but they don’t seem to have managed that.
Still they have us on AA1 rating and that’s good for the Island – well some people on the Island because (see Eddie’s comments above) we must remain vigilant’.
I suppose we will never ever get that AAA rating again like countries such as the United States…hang on isn’t the United States just about the most indebted country on the planet after Greece and Argentina!!!
BERNARD MOFFATT
Issued by: The Celtic News
09/09/15
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The Celtic League established in 1961 has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It promotes cooperation between the countries and campaigns on a range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights human rights abuse, military activity and socio-economic issues
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