With economic woes, sharply rising cost of living and rampant criminality commanding media headlines in so many Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, I did not realise that Barbados actually went out of business for an unspecified period.
Not until, that is, I read in Tuesday’s edition of the DAILY NATION that this country “is back in business”, according to chairman Dr Frank Alleyneb of the Barbados Government’s Council of Economic Advisers.
Cynicism? Perhaps. But I am yet to reconcile this “back in business” claim by economist Alleyne – as it relates to Monday’s first Budget presented by new Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler – to the surprising warning that followed a response from former three-term Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Owen Arthur. For Arthur, now Opposition Leader, Sinckler’s fiscal prescriptions constituted an “invitation for catastrophe”. Therefore, he feels it may be advisable for the Government, almost at the end of the third year of its five-year term, to bite the bullet and call a snap general election in 2011 for the electorate to determine the future.
That the Budget represents a very bitter dose of medicine for consumers of all social classes is a harsh reality. Indeed, the Government may well be taking a gamble by some of the tough measures proposed and the full impact would be felt after the current Independence anniversary celebrations and the Christmas holidays.
There is also the reality of the Government’s obligation to face the challenges of a very tough period in the social and economic life of this country at a time of lingering global financial and economic problems that negatively impact on all CARICOM partner states – to various degrees.
Gone are the halcyon days when Barbados was viewed as the best-managed economy in CARICOM. Today, political strutting has wisely given way to sobering assessments of regional realism and our interdependence, as evidenced in statements by some Barbadian politicians on both sides of the Parliament chamber.Coincidentally, as the Barbados Parliament was debating the Budget on Tuesday, the United States Federal Reserve was openly baring its pessimism of a worst-case forecast for economic recovery.
Nearer to home, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank was revealing its own disappointment with a discouraging “first half-year” economic performance by member countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.
Meanwhile, in the rest of CARICOM some quite significant events and developments were taking place: today, for instance, is Nomination Day for St Vincent and the Grenadines’ December 13 general election for its 15-member House of Assembly. Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves’ incumbent Unity Labour Party, which has eight new faces among its fifteen, is showing confidence for a third consecutive term based on the results of a recent poll. But leader of the opposition New Democratic Party, Arnhim Eustace, scoffs at the prospect of a three-in-a-row electoral defeat.
In Guyana, history is being made with the hosting of the Fourth Regular Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). It is the first time that a Caribbean nation is hosting such an event. Guyana and Suriname are the two Caribbean member countries of UNASUR. The three-day summit ends today at the Guyana International Conference Centre.
• Rickey Singh is a noted Caribbean journalist.