Caribbean News Now!

By Melanius Alphonse

The government of Saint Lucia will soon have to admit that the deficit and agreed stimulus packages have amounted to an enormous debt that will stunt projected growth.

By all standards, the fiscal health of Saint Lucia has leisurely shifted from neutral to park.

Melanius Alphonse is a management and development consultant. He is an advocate for community development, social justice, economic freedom and equality; the Lucian People’s Movement (LPM) critic on youth initiative, infrastructure, economic and business development. He is the media director for the Peaceful Caribbean Conference 2012, and can be reached at malphonse@rogers.com

The realities around us are already evident. In addition, not even the finest economic minds can prepare the people of Saint Lucia for the troubles that loom in the horizon.

For starters, don’t let this strike you as a surprise.

The prescriptions already being applied to restructuring our economy are sure to leave a very bitter taste in our mouths for years to come.

In the interim, to help adjust to the realities, how about dim sim for lunch.

Good, make it two and let’s sketch this out.

The government of Saint Lucia has returned to a place it left in rough fiscal shape, only to realize that growth is not going to materialize soon enough.

As well as the staggering reality that the very liberal ideology of spending without a comprehensive plan is not the answer moving forward, with a growth rate of less than 3% -- this is primarily a cost of living adjustment.

But rather, what Saint Lucia needs is a bold approach towards a transformative economic model, where appropriate resources are injected into the private sector, in order to create sustainable growth in excess of 4% annually.

This is an absolute necessity, if economic growth is what we are aiming for.

The liberalization of economic control on trade and investment, contracts, goodwill, is what will allow free trade and competition to flourish in an open environment.

Again, the situation as it exists is such that, in order to attain sustainable growth and new solutions, unconventional ideas cannot be ignored.

Government must act as a facilitator of competition, and not compete with the private sector; neither can it be a stumbling block in the way of economic progress.

In my previous writings there are numerous options; however, the situation is such that a factual diagnostic of Saint Lucia’s fiscal health is overdue in order to set the stage for sustainable growth.

Anyway, in simple prescriptive terms, government ought without further skepticism to slash further borrowing and debt accumulation, cut elective expenditure in half, cut corporate tax to 19%; strip all mundane regulations, and reduce the cost for small business registration, as well as the exorbitant cost and prolonged timeframe for setting up a corporation in Saint Lucia.

In addition, make available public sector services to the private sector – thus commencing the transformation of the public service.

As stated before, the size of cabinet should be reduced to nine members or less. This would save the country a whole lot of money, and thus allow government to appropriate more funds to badly needed areas.

Saint Lucia is 238 sq miles, 27x14 miles, with a population of approximately 160,000; do we really need a rubber stamp senate and the salary price tag attached to it?

How about bringing sanity to the enormous diplomatic (foreign currency) expenditures overseas?

These solutions are not new, neither are they easy policy decisions to make; however, politicians are elected to make the tough choices, based on evidence.

Further, the transformative economic model for Saint Lucian for the next 15 years must remain focused, with set priorities that are clear and concise, comprising cost cutting measures, and a disciplined computing about revenue solutions.

All of this is common knowledge inside government and the business environment, which makes it even more synthetic of the annual estimate of expenditure.

I await, like most Saint Lucians, with great anticipation, mindful of the fuzzy economic policies of the past, which were based on fuzzy maths, funny money, red envelopes and completely void of macro parameters to economic growth.

It is repeatedly said that “in order to lead the people to freedom, a leader needs to have sheer guts, strong will and determination.”

This pops the following questions!

Do Saint Lucians have a leader and a good doctor who is prepared to prescribe the remedies to good body mass index (BMI) and fiscal health?

And, will the citizens of Saint Lucian expect a report on corruption and incompetence, over austerity, or both?

Now that the play book of fresh faced and seasoned politicians are at the controls, Saint Lucians expect nothing less, but new growth.

After all, better days are here, to regain lost opportunities through strong and substantial negotiations on behalf of the people of Saint Lucia.

In total, that’s the job of a politician, in a world where some have influence, and others do not.

The new reality is here, and time is limited -- therefore, what’s next?

Reads: 1547


Tweet