By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE Budget measures announced by Finance Minister Colm Imbert on Monday will only present more hardships to citizens while ignoring the poor and vulnerable in the country.
This is according to Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar who said, “This budget sets the stage for dangerous times ahead,”
Persad-Bissessar was speaking at a press conference on Monday evening immediately following the reading of the 2022/2023 Budget in Parliament.
Describing the Budget as a “spranger’s budget,” lacking strategic plans, she spent some time dissecting various aspects of the four-hour long Budget statement by Imbert which she said was “fluff”.
Persad-Bissessar started by saying Government was lying about the true state of the economy, pushing the economy into a debt trap.
“Important to put the truth out – point out their lies,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar said, “This budget ignores all the current harsh realities of the devastating effects of national, financial, economic and social decline that we currently have. It provides no cogent strategic policy prescriptions to halt the ongoing economic contraction that tells us how to generate new revenue streams. Indeed, it appears that the government is setting the groundwork for justifying maybe going back to the IMF (International Monetary Fund).”
She added, “Instead of concrete policies designed to get people back to work, to get our economy back to health, it is littered with click-baiting and buzzwords instead with repeated broken promises, at time outright lies and then more measures to cause double hardship and pressure to an already pressure population.”
The Opposition Leader said that the increased fuel prices will further raise the cost of living and food prices and that every price that was already high will increase further.
“We know that once fuel prices increase, everything else will increase,” Persad-Bissessar said.
Imbert announced that gas (premium and super) would be increased by $1 effective immediately. Diesel was increased by 50 cents. Transportation between the sea and air bridges was also increased with senior citizens now having to fund their own sea-bridge transport.
Saying that citizens were still awaiting fulfilment of promises by the Government, the Opposition Leader said this year’s Budget repeated some of the failed past promises, containing only a few new initiatives presented across the various sectors of the economy.
Highlighting the personal income tax initiative, Persad-Bissessar said, “The increase in the personal income tax allowance reeks of being an election ploy. When you work out what they are offering you, it goes down to $ 4.10 per day for those persons who earn below $7,500. I don’t think you can even buy a doubles with that today.”
She also said that the tax incentives for upstream and deep-water production would not cause anyone to accelerate their plans for the sector and incentives for the energy sector will not have a significant impact.
Persad-Bissessar noted that oil and gas production figures were not mentioned by Imbert.
Food inflation was another topic she touched on stating that the retail price index as at June 2022 has shown increases in the prices of oils, fruits, vegetables, meat and fish from September 2015 to June.
“It matters not if parents want to give their child fish, fruits, oils or green leafy vegetables, they are being called upon to spend as high as 42% on average for some of these items. Whilst at the same time their salaries are stagnant,” she said.
While future gas projects were listed by Imbert, Persad-Bissessar said “they are nothing but a tool to deceive.”
Overall she said that instead of crafting policies to benefit citizens, the PNM government instead spent their time trying to rewrite reality.
Persad-Bissessar is expected to respond to the Budget in Parliament on Friday and she promised to speak in further detail about the measures announced.
