Stung by Opposition criticism of Government spending, deficits and the Moody’s credit rating downgrade, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Communications Minister Vasant Bharath last night punched back in defence of their economic record during the Monday Night Forum at Guaico, Sangre Grande.
“Moody’s or no Moody’s, we will not stop development in Trinidad and Tobago,” Persad-Bissessar thundered.
Referring to Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley as Chicken Licken, the storybook character who ran around warning that the sky is falling, Persad-Bissessar told supporters, “Do not be panicked by Chicken Licken.”
She reeled off a string of economic accomplishments such as “95 schools in five years” and said that her Government had always undertaken “people-centered development.”
The PM and Bharath both challenged Rowley to say what he would cut to balance the books if he were PM.
Bharath noted that T&T had one of the lowest debts in this part of the world.
“All of you know that inflation was in double digits, over 16 per cent. Today, inflation and cost of living is less than nine per cent. So when they talk the economy they do so restlessly, without any attention to what this Government has done.
“This Government handled prudently. What does this mean? It means that we have taken your ideas on board, we have listened to you, understanding your needs and spending according to what your requirements are,” Bharath said.
He added: “I ask Dr Rowley, what will he cut? Will he cut social welfare programmes? Will he cut subsidies? Will he cut infrastructure or roads and bridges? Will he increase your taxes? Will he cut the fuel subsidy? Will he dip into the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund? Will he cut education? Will he lay off government workers? Will he reduce the minimum wage or Will he cut your pensions? These are the questions that he must answer.”
Last week, the credit rating firm Moody’s Investors Service downgraded T&T’s government bond rating and issuer rating to Baa2 from Baa1. It also signalled less optimism about the country’s growth prospects, changing its outlook from “stable” to “negative.”
Moody’s said the key drivers behind the downgrade were persistent fiscal deficits, challenging prospects for fiscal reforms, a decline in oil prices and limited economic diversification. It also criticised the Government on planning, citing a weak macroeconomic policy framework, lack of a medium-term fiscal strategy, and “inadequate provision of vital macroeconomic data.”
Rowley was quick to weigh in on the downgrade on Friday, and repeated his attack yesterday.
“This Government has run a deficit in every single budget, spending far more than we were earning and there was no plan to change that, (only) old talk,” he said during a press conference at the Office of the Opposition Leader in Port-of-Spain, adding that the downgrade would hinder investment. (See other story)
“This Government has just been engaging in spending, spending, spending with no plan. It is not a good thing for T&T and it was entirely avoidable.”
But Persad-Bissessar, in her address to the supporters last night, assured that the country’s economic fundamentals were very positive and very strong.
She disclosed that the country had recorded a surplus and not a projected debit of over $3 billion.
“Now recording our numbers for the first half of this fiscal year, it was projected that there would be a deficit in our budget, meaning more expenditure, less revenue, less money coming in. It was projected that the second half, that we would have had a deficit of over $3 billion,” Persad-Bissessar said.
“That was really cause for concern, but through the prudent fiscal management we recorded a surplus. No deficit in our revenue. It is not a massive surplus but it is a surplus of $47 million verses the projection of over $3 billion in deficit.
“Chicken Licken (Rowley) would have you believe that the country is bankrupt that we must cut everything.”
The PM also announced last night that the screening process for general election candidates would start from Monday.