THE 2022 Budget presented by Finance Minister Colm Imbert on Monday had nothing substantial and was simply regurgitated false promises and hope of a possible more resilient economy.
This is according to Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar who said, “This budget highlights a government’s failure.”
Persad-Bissessar, as customary held a press conference shortly after the Budget was presented in Parliament to state her views on the Finance Minister’s presentation.
The Budget is expected to be debated in Parliament on Friday.
Persad-Bissessar said while the pandemic would have added to the country’s economic demise, its problems began long before March 2020.
She said, “ For yet another year, we heard no ideas to generate economic growth, put people back to work or help the thousands of working families who are struggling to make ends meet.”
Mentioning the Budget’s theme “Resilience in the Face of a Global Pandemic,” she added, “There was nothing in this Budget that is sustainable to make the economy resilient in the last 12 months.”
The Opposition Leader said citizens were awaiting to hear of job stimulation and measures to decrease the increasing cost of living but were left disappointed.
She said the only Budgetary plan was to raise revenues through taxation and not other proposed methodologies.
Persad-Bissessar admitted to being a bit excited about the announcement of zero-rated Value Added Tax (VAT) on food items but was not impressed with the list called out.
With the basic need of food, Persad-Bissessar called for the removal of VAT on all basic food items, not just the selected few.
She said, “It must be noted that VAT collections declined in 2016 by $188 million. VAT collected thereafter never climbed higher than the 2015 figure of $8.9 billion. So that harsh measure is not bringing in the kind of revenue they expected.”
To all the measures, outlined by the Finance Minister, Persad-Bissessar said they were nothing new and the budget seemed to be a repeat from last year’s and citizens were still awaiting Covid relief grants.
She also spoke about previous budgets stating that every budget by the People’s National Movement (PNM) led administration recorded a deficit since coming into office in 2015 including last year’s of a deficit of $13.7 billion.
The 2021/2022 Budget is also a deficit of just over $9 billion.
No mention of crime
Persad-Bissessar said, “One significant area that was glaringly absent in this budget is any measures to address rising crime.”
Crime remained a major concern for people but the only measure was to offer rewards for bounty hunters which could have been used to be invested in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS).
And while she spoke about the Budget, more details of which she will give during the debate in Parliament on Friday, Persad-Bissessar said the public should not forget events that impact democracy and law and especially when it involved Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi.
The Opposition Leader said documents that have surfaced involving Al-Rawi and Vincent Nelson raised more questions for the Attorney General and Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has a duty to tell the country if the Cabinet that he leads gave its approval for his Attorney General to conduct these negotiations to enter into those agreements with Nelson .
