IMF projects zero growth for 2019

THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected zero growth for 2019 for TT.

In its World Economic Outlook, released today, the IMF also noted the TT economy grew just 0.3 per cent – a marked difference from the 1.9 per cent the Government suggested in the budget last October. Overall, the fund reduced its outlook for global growth to 3.3 per cent, from 3.5 per cent in January.

According to the IMF, TT’s growth estimates for 2018 are based on full-year energy sector data from the Ministry of Energy and Ministry of Finance, preliminary national accounts data for the first three quarters of the year from the Central Statistical Office, and staff projections for the fourth quarter non energy output based on available information. The fund added that growth estimates are subject to revision once the finalised data for the full year become available.

In a statement, Caroni Central MP Dr Bhoe Tewarie said the news belies Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s remarks about “economic turn around,” the Prime Minister’s statements on "stabilisation of the economy," and Trade Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon’s claim that the country is out of the recession.

Tewarie said "the citizen knows what he is living and feeling."

“Workers who have lost their jobs know what they are experiencing. The unemployed know how difficult it is to find work. The poor know how hard it is to put food on the table. The middle class can tell you how hard it is to make ends meet, mortgage payers can relate their troubles to keep a roof over their heads and small businesses are bawling.”

Tewarie said the IMF's report had “socked it” to Imbert.

The IMF has "confirmed an objective observer's knowledge" from data and daily experience that the economy is anaemic and distressing, Tewarie said.

“It is only the Rowley Government who says that the country is doing well."