I love Christmas time. For me it is the best period of the year. I like the hustle and bustle of shopping; the painting and general sprucing up of the house; the smell of baking ham, turkey, sweetbread and great cake; and most of all, going to church either at midnight mass or at five o’clock on Christmas morning.
Even before these things start in earnest, the music leading up to Christmas gives one a feeling that something special is in the offing. Whether it’s the spiritual tunes or perennial favourites, that music sets the tone for what is truly the greatest time of the year.
This Christmas though, as much as I plan to celebrate as per usual, I am worried about the immediate future. The signs suggest something ominous looms. No, I am not referring to Friday, December 21, when some claim the end of the world will occur as the Mayan “long-count calendar” ends. I believe that date simply marks the end of one major time cycle and the beginning of a new and, hopefully, better one.
Rather, I am fearful about our immediate economic prospects and the dismissive way those of us who raise genuine concerns are maligned for doing so. Of course, this bully tactic did not start with this Government; neither do I expect it to end with them. But the situation now is so dire that all of us who care about Barbados should recognize that partisan rhetoric will not save our island home from the economic morass it continues to slide into.
A snapshot of the facts known to everyone would show why we need to be concerned.
Tourism, our major foreign exchange earner, is earning less revenue as our main source markets continue to be impacted by the global economic squeeze.
The offshore financial sector has lost its competitive edge and is now fighting to regain its high revenue inflows.
Rum is under severe pressure due to the unfair subsidies given to our major competitors in Puerto Rico by the United States government.
Government has been reportedly borrowing $40 million a month to pay public sector wages and this has contributed to our high fiscal deficit, which the rating agencies and International Monetary Fund say is unsustainable.
Public sector wages have not increased for a few years, but talks with the trade unions are ongoing. Any increase, no matter how minuscule, will worsen Government’s fiscal position.
Most private sector workers too have not had a wage hike in years, and some in the service industry, like hotels and restaurants, have been working three- and four-day weeks for sometime, with no immediate sign of improvement.
Food, fuel and electricity prices, along with the general cost of living, continue to rise, influenced heavily by hikes from overseas suppliers and Government taxes.
The retail and distributive sector, which accounts for nearly 25 per cent of our economy, is in the doldrums as local spending has contracted due primarily to the austerity measures imposed by successive budgets.
The banks and credit unions are flush with money, but not many people are borrowing as they are uneasy about the future. And there has been a fall-off in foreign investment.
These are the facts of life in Barbados today. No amount of political rhetoric or spin and blame for failure from either camp can wish them away.
And as if these were not enough to damper my enjoyment of Christmas, the refusal by Government to have a VAT-free day compounded my belief that things are really bad and getting worse.
I say this because a VAT-free day would have endeared the Freundel Stuart administration to the public – and they know this. It would have ensured, too, that businesses get a boost in revenue to help keep them afloat during the traditional slow months between January and April. That Government refused to do this suggests they cannot afford the revenue loss. And if that is the case, it would indicate we are really scrambling to get every dollar possible into the Treasury to keep the country afloat.
This is why I am concerned this Christmas. This is why I continue to call on Government to lay out their plan of action and take the population into their confidence on what they see as the way forward.
The bravado of keeping public sector workers employed, services running and the country stable in spite of the economic shocks from outside is commendable. That is what governments are elected to do – keep their populations safe.
But we cannot stay battened down in our ship waiting until the tempestuous economic seas subside. Government needs to give us the full truth of where we are at and a detailed plan of how we are going to get out of it.
Merry Christmas to all.
• Sanka Price is the SATURDAY SUN editor.
