Time for budget with a plan

It is a year since the government has been in office and certainly there appears to be significant dissatisfaction among the population if certain polls are to be believed. Of the many explanations that can be advanced for the apparent level of dissatisfaction, there are a few issues that are always at the center of such polls. Economics and finance remain powerful agents that operate in a complex manner. Economists are expected to operate in a professional manner to provide unbiased information and recommendations on how to improve the economic performance in any country. Elected politicians then evaluate this economic information and decide on an appropriate course of action.

There is always a strong relationship between economics and politics because the performance of the economy is one of the key political battlegrounds. Many economic issues are inherently political because they lend themselves to different opinions.

There are a number of extant studies of the impact of economic conditions on government electoral behavior in democracies. Three conclusions that can be gathered from these: (1), in representative democracies there exists a consistent relationship between the economic situation prevailing in an economy and the average citizens’ evaluation of their government; (2), the proposition that governments are interested in reaching their selfish objectives in elections fares well compared with the contending proposition that governments are concerned with the state of the economy; and (3), at no time can we argue that governments and voters are the only actors in politico-economic decisions: we must also consider bureaucracies and interest groups that may make it difficult for any government to change its policies quickly as there may be fierce opposition as well as stiff resistance from any number of socio-economic actors found in any country.

Our main point is that prevailing economic conditions certainly have had influence on the opinions of citizens. It is necessary to suggest that as the government prepares to present its second budget, they should also address a number of other economic matters. Where is the economic plan that provides us with the road map of what we want to achieve? A budget is just like the steering wheel of a car - it changes the direction, without a map; however, it is the direction of the steering that is the real challenge.

The country has experienced significant financial failure that threatened the economy. Based on reports, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on commissions of enquiry for the failure of CLICO and Hindu Credit Union.

This appears to be adding insult to injury as no one seems to have been brought to justice. A former director of CLICO was advisor to a Governor of the Central Bank. What about fitness and propriety? The very rules of the Central Bank were discarded.

We continue to hire a forensic firm from abroad whose work required further work from another company.

Why did we pay for such poor quality work? Who in the Ministry of Finance or the Central Bank is responsible for this state of affairs? This new government was expected to right the wrongs - not add to it.

The message from us is simply this - fix the economy, adhere to good governance and prosecute those responsible for mismanagement.

Please get the communication right about the issues affecting us; do not allow another ISPAT to occur; negotiate upcoming energy contracts due for renewal carefully and get the Ministers to pursue our interest. We are watching.