Most Barbadians will by now have recognized the serious economic crisis facing the country. The recent news from Government’s chief economist adviser Dr DeLisle Worrell was not good, and the concerns as expressed by the business sector and special interest groups such as economists and accountants must be worrying to every citizen.
A careful examination of the situation would suggest that we must be pessimistic about the economic outlook.
The financial problems staring down this country are serious. Tourism and offshore financial services, two critical foreign exchange earning sectors, are both down; Government spending is way up and the private sector is under increasing pressure. We need to have some pragmatism by Government; it must act decisively; talk to the people and take them into its confidence.
In this sea of uncertainty, there are some bright spots. We speak of the worthwhile suggestions being made to Government on possible solutions. The hope is that Government, the private sector and labour can sit down and look at what meaningful steps should be taken to resolve the national debt, secure existing jobs and create new ones, earn foreign exchange, and ensure that we have a robust private enterprise.
The promise by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados (ICAB) that it will present an alternative set of measures to Government in view of the problems encountered in realizing the national Medium Term Fiscal Strategy is welcome news. Hopefully, it will be eagerly accepted by Government.
The Freundel Stuart administration must prove its naysayers wrong. It must show that it is listening, accepting worthy suggestions, and taking action to halt further economic slide.
Government should host a fiscal responsibility summit, where it can explain the scope of the massive economic and financial problem facing this country. Then it has to show how it plans to preserve and strengthen the island’s economic base, while promoting its concept of Barbados being not just an economy, but a society.
There is nothing lost if we have a bipartisan fiscal reform team working with the other social partners to propose a framework for reform and arriving at meaningful solutions. Our problems are no longer the preserve of only those in Parliament, at the Central Bank, in Bay Street or Democratic Labour Party’s headquarters at George Street.
Barbadians recognize there must be some sacrifice. This means that nothing must be off-limits: tax reform, spending cuts, privatization of some statutory corporations, elimination of wastage, speedy implementation of alternative energy programmes and a general improvement in business facilitation.
The clock is ticking as the countdown is on. The matter at hand is that we solve the island’s pressing economic problems, which grow worse every day. All relevant ideas must be welcomed as we must take action.