BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WITH one more day left in this week’s celebration of World Consumer Rights Day (Mar. 15), Minister responsible for Consumer Affairs Hon Dr. Timothy Harris has urged nationals to be wary of overextending their expenditure.
Harris advocated that consumers be more disciplined and learn from the problems that led to the recent financial crisis. He stressed that when consumers bite into more expenses than they can actually chew, liquidity problems and bankruptcy in the home and in businesses extend into a wider global crisis.
“We must continue to practise wise spending by purchasing the things we need. Consumers must also try to ensure savings and try not to overextend themselves through credit cards and hire purchase arrangements because so long as the inflows cannot meet outflows in a timely way, you will have to make adjustments or the institution would have to make the adjustments,” Harris said in an recent interview with SKNVibes.
While this year’s Consumer Rights Day theme, ‘My Money, My Rights’, seeks to educate and empower consumers on their rights and responsibilities to help restore consumer confidence, Harris said wise spending and saving must be the hallmarks of such empowerment.
He acknowledged that facilities to secure credit seem more convenient and appealing than in previous times, but cautioned that consumers must stay within the limits of their own “financial feasibility matrix”.
“We as consumers must exhibit increased financial discipline in order to ensure that our hard earned incomes continue to provide us with a high degree of satisfaction as we purchase safe and good quality goods and services. In these times it is imperative that we effectively manage our limited incomes in a sensible and sustainable manner to ensure our survival in this tight financial environment,” he said.
Though signs of recovery are apparent in a number of economies around the world, consumers must save and spend wisely, as there are still numerous signs of “economic stickiness”, Harris said. He added that 2010 will continue to be a year of economic uncertainty and called for a heightened level of financial prudence to continue throughout the year.
The week of activities, organized by the Ministry, continues this evening (Mar. 18) with a panel discussion on ZIZ radio and will culminate tomorrow with a Consumer and Health Awareness Day event in Independence Square. All are invited to participate in these events.
