Tewarie: What Colm? We’re doing worse now

CARONI Central MP Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie questioned the soundness of the financial projections put forward by Finance Minister Colm Imbert, as he (Tewarie) kicked off debate on the budget mid-year review. He expressed grave concern over the future of the economy in light of financial uncertainty.

Responding to Imbert’s optimistic outlook on TT’s financial status, Tewarie said that contrary to the minister’s remarks about recovery, the country was doing worse in the aftermath of the covid19 pandemic. Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar was not in the chamber at the time of the contribution.

He said government ought to address issues of sustainability and resilience, warning that unless proper strategies are implemented to treat with wastage and inefficiency, TT would never properly recover.

“If you tell everyone the economy is doing great, as the minister is seeking to do here today, the economy is not doing great. It’s doing bad before and it’s doing worse now and understand why because we’re in a covid19 situation.”

Citing a report from the covid19 roadmap recovery committee, Tewarie also stressed the importance of improving the ease of accessibility of cash and loans to small businesses and called for more self-sufficiency.

“I want to emphasise strongly that this mitigating hardship is not reaching the people. Yes we are opening up but the stress is real but if the small businesses don’t get the bank loans, if people are not getting back their jobs, nothing will survive. There is nothing the minister told us today except his wishes for the future that tells us anything that will cause a recovery.”

In a rebuttal, Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh defended Imbert’s projections citing a Ministry of Finance release dated May 22 confirming TT’s status as Ba1, by international rating’s agency Moody’s Investments Services.

“It’s a testimony to the resilience of the country in the face of unprecedented shocks.

The covid19 crisis combined with the collapse of oil prices has led rating agencies like Moody’s to change the ratings of a very large number of countries but to hear my honourable friend, he will pick out TT and make it sound like we are a basket case.”