Chamber tells Govt: Watch your spending

Mouttet told Newsday yesterday that the Chamber has no evidence to support allegations of a Government spending spree, but Government must remain prudent with its expenditure and ensure that the economy does not overheat. Trade and Industry Minister Ken Valley said reports of a Government spending spree are false, and this fact will be revealed when Prime Minister Patrick Manning presents the 2005/2006 Budget in Parliament. The Budget date has been tentatively set for September 26, but sources have said this is subject to change.

While noting the importance of social sector programmes in creating a safety net for the most vulnerable in society, Mouttet said these programmes should be reduced as the private sector and the economy become able to create the type of sustainable employment which the country needs. He added that this would allow for the absorption of people from the social sector programmes into new jobs being generated by the economy. Commenting on reports that Government was considering hiring workers from other Caricom countries to fill certain shortages in TT, Mouttet wondered if this made sense given the fact that the country is nearing full employment.

He said a concern expressed by many businesses in TT is a lack of skilled labour and questioned whether programmes such as CEPEP were really producing skilled workers as compared to the Multi-Sector Skills Training (Must) programme.