Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says a claim by Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran that T&T is in a recession is now very contentious because there is no supporting data.
Rowley made the comment while responding to questions to the Prime Minister in the House of Representatives, yesterday.
Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh had asked Rowley if he agreed that the country was in a recession.
But Rowley responded with a question.
“Agree with whom?” he asked and took his seat.
Indarsingh persisted, saying the question was based on statements by Rambarran and Independent Senator Dhanayshar Mahabir.
Rambarran said last Friday that the country had experienced four quarters of negative growth and consequently was in official recession. Mahabir made his statement on the recession in the Senate this week.
Rowley proceeded to explain what determines a recession.
He said to the best of the government's knowledge, it was determined “when two consecutive periods of decline have been observed by those who monitor the performance of the economy.”
He said as far as he was aware, the country was still in the last quarter of 2015.
He added, “That quarter cannot form any basis for determining what happens with recession in the country. So, therefore, it must refer to the two previous quarters and earlier.
“If in fact we were in recession in those two quarters, we would have expected to have heard that from him.”
Rowley said the fourth quarter of this year began in October and concludes at the end of December.
“We also do not know the source of the data to which he (Rambarran) is referring,” Rowley said.
Rowley said the quarters of decline prior to October “would have been known from statistical data acceptable and believable to determine whether or not T&T is in recession.”
He said it was former government officials “who failed to tell this country that we have been in recession and decline during their term.”
Opposition MP for Tabaquite, Surujrattan Rambachan, then asked the Prime Minister if his Government had received any official data from the Central Statistical Office (CSO) or the Central Bank on the recession.
Rowley said his Government had received no data. He said he was also not aware that the CSO, the agency that compiles the performance statistics of the country, has made any documentation available.
“That is why this issue is so contentious, because the basis for promoting it is quite questionable,” he insisted.
Rowley said his Government did not have any problem in acknowledging “if the data does show that the economy has not grown or has remained stagnant over the last three months or so.
“What we do have a difficulty with is arbitrary, spurious data being used to determine the performance of the economy,” he said.
Rowley also denied his Government was seeking to hound Rambarran out of office.
“If there is any person taking action which would result in the termination of the employment of the Governor of the Central Bank, that person is not the Government,” he said, in response to a question by Rambachan that Finance Minister Colm Imbert and Rambarran were in a war.
Later, Chief Whip Ganga Singh made an unsuccessful attempt to have the Parliament debate as a matter of urgent public importance the controversy over Rambarran’s statement.
Singh, in presenting the motion, said the Government was using Rambarran’s disclosure on foreign exchange recipients to divert public attention away from the “calamitous social and economic impact of the mass job losses in the public and private sector over the past two months.”
According to Singh, while that was happening the “Government has manipulated public attention away from this most serious state of affairs, primarily by escalating its vendetta against the independent office of the Governor of the Central Bank.”
Deputy Speaker Esmond Forde said the matter did not qualify.