Challenges facing the economy

THE EDITOR: Anyone remembers that little thing called the economy?

You know that thing that gives us all an opportunity to earn a livelihood, and by extension put food on our table, a roof over our head, education for our children and everything else.

Well, while we’re reminding ourselves about that little thing called the economy, let's hope that those in charge are as concerned as we all are about some of the major challenges which will make the coming years very challenging for TT:

*S&P’s recent announcement on outlook for TT to negative, down from stable.

*Lack of foreign exchange.

*bpTT forecast of major natural gas shortfalls, not to mention several deepwater exploration efforts that haven’t panned out successfully.

*Prolonged lockdowns & shutdowns due to the ongoing global pandemic.

*Growing unemployment.

*Permanent closures of many businesses.

*Ease of doing business rankings continues to be unacceptable.

*Rising inflation.

*Rising national debt

*Continued dependence on oil and gas. Very little diversification is taking place.

*Oversized and highly paid public sector coupled with too many loss-making state owned entities.

*The public's addiction to State subsidies on everything from fuel, electricity, water, inter-island transport etc.

*Constant brain-drain with many highly skilled professionals and talented entrepreneurs leaving our shores.

As we can see this little thing called the economy requires a large effort on the part of those holding the reins to ensure it remains afloat in the coming years.

Steven Valdez

via e-mail