Kamla: Economy suffering from Colm Virus
Today the Opposition in the Parliament moved a Motion of No Confidence in Minister of Finance Colm Imbert.
This was an important decision because the truth about the economic and social crisis unfolding in Trinidad and Tobago deserved to be properly debated and documented in the seat of our democracy.
As is the norm of this PNM government, the Minister absurdly proclaimed “the economy is doing fine”, without presenting a shred of evidence to justify his claim. Thousands of citizens have lost their jobs, businesses continue to close down, importers are warning of a looming food crisis due to the shortage of FOREX, we continue to be downgraded by international rating agencies and the Government has resorted to raiding the Heritage and Stabilization Fund without transparency. Yet, this PNM government continues to bury their heads in the sand while our economy is collapsing around us.
In Trinidad and Tobago today, people are not buying, companies are not hiring and no new businesses are opening. It is abundantly clear that consumers, employers and investors have already signalled their loss of confidence in this Minister of Finance.
This Government continues to blame the Covid 19 Pandemic to mask their own incompetence. But the facts speak for themselves. Over the course of the past six years, Minister Imbert has overseen Zero economic growth. Zero foreign direct investment and Zero growth in official reserves.
Conversely, Minister Imbert has also overseen ballooning public debt, record joblessness and the crash of our energy sector. As far back as 2017, Minister Imbert was raiding the Heritage and Stabilization Fund.
Our citizens need real policies that promote economic growth and create jobs. Unfortunately, our nation is plagued by a virus that only seeks to destroy to its own benefit – the Colm Virus.
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, SC, MP
Opposition Leader of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
26, March 2021