Mark: TT facing 4th year of economic contraction

OPPOSITION Senator Wade Mark said this country is projected to record its fourth consecutive year of contraction of the economy.

He was contributing to Senate debate Tuesday on The Finance (Variation of Appropriation) (Financial Year 2019) Bill 2020.

He said he witnessed an economy in a state of stagnation and virtual regression. He reported for 2016, 2017 and 2018 there was negative economic growth and contraction of the economy. Mark said, from a cursory analysis of the numbers, the country is going to witness a fourth year of negative economic growth and contraction of the economy.

"That is the record of mismanagement of our resources by this hapless PNM regime."

He said with the presentation of the bill he "witnessed a virtual confession of the failure and rampant mismanagement of this country's resources by a clueless, hopeless, bankrupt and ultimately outgoing administration." He accused the Government of reckless financial mismanagement and criticised the continued over-dependence on the Central Bank for financing rather that utilising Government's own operations. He also accused the Government of cosmetic accounting and misleading accounting.

He said there has been an abandonment of whatever diversification thrust Government had attempted and what had been described as "savings" was really a suppression of funds for things like the Agricultural Development Bank and fiscal programmes for farmers to deal with the interest payment on the overdraft facility on the Central Bank.

Mark said the numbers are telling the Senate a story about the reality in TT: the foreign exchange reserves falling from $12 billion in September 2015 to just $6.9 billion; from 12 months import cover to 7.7 months import cover; public debt over $106 billion; and the external debt went from almost ten per cent of GDP in 2009/2010 to now 68 per cent of GDP.

"What are we doing right now is seeing and witnessing borrowing, borrowing and borrowing and no growth in our economy whatsoever. And that is leading to joblessness, hopelessness, rising cost of living for our citizens in this country and growing income inequality in this society."