Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley made a stirring plea to the nation for fiscal responsibility in the next few years. His speech was angled more towards moral suasion than anything else. It is doubtful whether the population understood what he was really saying.
He pleaded with businesses to rethink how they use our foreign exchange. It is clear that much foreign exchange is wasted on the importation of luxury and unnecessary goods.
He asked conglomerates to rethink the idea of huge profits and make do with less. Good luck with that one, Dr Rowley. The very nature of business in a capitalist society is to make profits. I do not know of one CEO of any bank or large business who would think otherwise. Even in a recession!
Globalisation has opened us up to the vicissitudes of spending.
A citizen of T&T, armed with a credit card, can buy goods online for personal use. Even after paying foreign taxes, freight, insurance, fuel, VAT and customs duties, the cost of the item, landed in T&T, is way less than what an importer charges in a store.
This has empowered thousands of citizens to source products online. This has also meant that more foreign exchange leaves the country. How does this compare with the repatriation of profits in US$ by transnational corporations? Or the alleged US$ capital flight under the PP government?
How does a government manage in such a situation? Does it allow the local currency to depreciate against the US$ and so make imports more expensive? This seems to be a last resort move but one that was made mutely clear by the Prime Minister.
Unfortunately, our history has always been one where we learn the hard way. Moral suasion does not work in T&T. Just look at the carnage on our roads and the ineffective pleas from the police for safer driving. One citizen spending around $65,000 on fireworks says it all!
The Prime Minister has given the warning. It is up to us to take heed. If we don’t, April 2016 will be a very difficult month indeed.
Linus F Didier
Mt Hope