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Mottley blasts Government’s economic record

10/26/2009

By Nicholas Cox

Government has displayed a lack of consistency and failed to come up with programmes to adequately address the economic recession.

Opposition Leader Mia Mottley presented a dismal outlook on the Barbados economy on Sunday, predicting more job losses, a further decline in tourism, and increases to the cost of living. She was also highly critical of Government’s handling of the international business, agriculture, and manufacturing sectors.

She was addressing the second day of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) 71st Annual Conference at the Barbados Community College Gymnasium, during which she condemned Government for its handling of social issues such as health care, indecision about constructing a new hospital, and shortages of nurses and police officers. Mottley told the BLP membership that Government was facing severe financial constraints with departments shaving expenditure and finding it difficult to make payments to businesses. She cited the Immigration Department as an example, saying that the office had run out of regular passport stock meaning that Bajans were facing difficulty with the issuance of passports.

Noting that Government had to raise revenue, Mottley said, “So do not be surprised for instance if bus fare are not increased to between $2.50 and $3 despite his [Prime Minister David Thompson] telling the IMF that he has no intention of raising bus fares.” She also expected that the price of natural gas to go up in line with the recent increase in water rates and a proposed hike in electricity rates.

The Opposition Leader argued that, “Barbadian households and businesses are being priced out of survival.” She accused Government of increasing the cost of living threefold despite promises to bring it down, and allowing the debt to GDP ratio to reach 96 per cent.

Mottley predicted that Barbados would lose about 2 000 jobs in the public service, or that the sector would face a wage cut, or some combination of the two. She also called on Government to explain where further cuts in t spending would take place. Examining the 22 months that Government has been in office Mottley found that the Democratic Labour Party administration was in a state of “bedufflement” in the face of the difficult economic environment.

She also accused the Government of a lack of consistency in its policies, which caused people to lose confidence and affected how they planned their lives. “And it is not only because of the recession. It is because people are naturally cautious in times like these. Any government worth its salt must provide strong leadership. It must give people confidence and introduce programmes to stimulate the economy, this is not happening in any significant way and where it is happening it is a case of too little too late.

“There is no creativity in their approach to economic management, they continue to rely on a failed, one-size-fits-all, IMF type economic prescription while the cold, hard results of their failure stare them in the face.” She said that the Government had no proposals on how to counter job losses and restructure the economy and was expecting to face a jobless recovery from the recession.

Mottley stressed that the recession was no surprise, but said Government’s policies compounded the situation, citing its energy policy, the failure to borrow on the international market early to shore up foreign reserves, and a delayed stimulus package. She also accused Government of blaming the BLP for the situation, but said, “This might have appealed to some people for a few months after the election, but it has lost its lustre.”

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