Does not address economic situation
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – LEADER of the Opposition in the National House of Assembly, Hon. Mark Brantley is of the view that the 2011 Budget does not address the economic situation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
“We in our country will have to live in a gilded castle away from real people, who make up the population of St. Kitts and Nevis, to say anything other than things are hard in St. Kitts and Nevis. The financial ship of state has firmly run aground. We are choking on a massive debt that has been a hallmark of this Labour, now turned Labour-NRP government.
“As this Labour-NRP government stands today on top of the ashes of the financial and moral landscape of our once great country of St. Kitts and Nevis, we have looked to this Budget and to our government for a sense of hope. Alas, we have searched in vain. This Budget offers no prescription for the malady that afflicts us.
“We in the Opposition and from these Opposition benches have, budget after budget, year after year, sitting after sitting, spoken out about the morass of debt in which this government has plunged us. Year after year for every single year of this Labour Party in government we have seen deficits. In not one single year have we seen a surplus on either Recurrent or Capital Accounts. We have seen bleedings in a sea of red in this country,” Brantley argued.
Brantley noted that over the years the government failed to heed numerous calls made by the Opposition for it to address the national Debt.
“We in opposition have sounded the alarm. We have done so in the byways and highways, in the shops, in the banks, we have spoken in Parliament and in speeches. We have been on the radio, in the newspapers, on the Internet and have spoken out at home and abroad. Our cries and entreaties have fallen on deft ears.
“The response from this Labour government and from this Minister of Finance, in particular, has been to grandstand and pontificate; fiddling mightily while Basseterre and Charlestown drown in debt. The Prime Minister and Minister of Finance’s crass response to a question about the state of our debt is now a matter of unfortunate folklore in our political history.
“In response to his crass remarks, the Labour supporters roared their approval, only seems in St. Kitts and Nevis as some elements of our society willing to reward and celebrate mediocrity. We were repeatedly told in this Parliament and elsewhere that the debt did not matter, so long as we were able to pay it. But that simplistic approach ignored the fact that every dollar diverted to the payment of the debt, we have less money available for the maintenance for our country,” Brantley added.
He stated that the Federation’s massive runaway debt and the cost of servicing it have crowded out other critical areas of national development.
In justification of his arguments, the Opposition Leader drew reference to the fact that the Federation’s economic outlook for the coming year, based on real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which stands at 1.5 percent, is the worst within the Caribbean and globally ranks third to last.
“Years of telling our people that the debt did not matter and that members of the Opposition were somehow being foolish have left us now in the clutches of the International Monetary Fund…We are now having economic policy shaped, not at home but in the corridors of power in Washington, DC. Alas, the chickens have come home to roost.
“The IMF World Economic Outlook 2010 painted a gloomy picture for our economic recovery over the next five years…An examination of the IMF’s predictions show that real GDP in St. Kitts and Nevis in 2011 is projected to grow by 0.5 percent and by a meager two percent in 2015. This report puts St. Kitts and Nevis as third to the last in the whole world. The nation must understand that. We are tied with Venezuela and only Portugal, Zimbabwe and Greece are projected to perform less than us in 2011. To put this in into context for the people of St. Kitts and Nevis, our country is projected to perform worst, in terms of its economy, than all of our Caribbean brother and sister countries, and even worse than Haiti,” Brantley argued.
The Opposition Leader also accused the government of introducing new taxes to an already burdened people, who are experiencing an increase in the cost of living from the recently-introduced Value Added Tax.
“Don’t come here and tell me that VAT is for my benefit, because I don’t see how it benefits me. And don’t tell the poor people that it is for their benefit and put song and jingle on the radio saying the people ask for VAT. Which people? Don’t do that…it is a dishonest debate and that is the difficulty that I have.
“This government has introduced VAT, at the time the second highest rate in the region, on the backs on an already burdened people in the midst of a severely economic depressed period. This government has consistently had the wrong prescription for this economy…We on this side has said that we cannot tax ourselves out of a recession,” Brantley stressed.
Brantley also accused the government of causing the Federation to be in the huge debt that it is in long before the commencement of the current global recession.
“The deficits racked up by this government on Recurrent Account in each and every year of the last decade. In 2000, long before the Great Recession, the figure was $56.4M; in 2001 $55.18M; in 2002 $57.08M; in 2003 $51.68M; 2004 $59.53M; 2005 $65.23M; 2006 $33.54M; 2007 $55.49M. All in the red! And you know what is instructive and it lends a lie to the suggestion that our difficulties are somehow caused by this Great Recession? By the time recession started in 2008, St. Kitts-Nevis actually did better,” Brantley further argued.
In his over three-hour long 2010 Budget Address, Dr. Douglas announced that from January 1, 2011 consumers would have to pay more for electricity and increases for the Housing and Social Development Levy, as well as an end to some duty free concessions.
The Prime Minister and Minister of Finance declared that the fiscal measures are aimed at combating the country’s $3B public debt and to stabilise the economy during the current recession.
