Port-of-Spain: Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley claims that too much money in the 2011/2012 Budget was allocated towards the Ministry of the Attorney General, at the expense of using money to develop much needed growth in the economy.
Dr Rowley responded to the Budget at the Parliament today, saying he fears that the unemployment rate is much higher than government is saying since no statistics have been collected.
Although his response to the 2011/2012 Budget began an hour and half later than it was scheduled to, after being delayed twice because of technical difficulties at the new parliament at Tower D of the waterfront, it did not stop Dr Rowley from wading into the Finance Minister Winston Dookeran and the government.
Dr Rowley argued that when the PNM demitted office there was a combined reserved of over US$12 billion, an unemployment rate of 4.8 percent and Standard and Poors had upgraded the country to a AAA-rating.
According to Dr Rowley, since then there has been no growth in the nation's gross domestic product, a super low core inflation rate because of no development in the economy and the country faces the real possibility of going into double-dip recession.
He says to date citizens are in the dark as to the real state of the economy and the unemployment rate remains a mystery.
The only real growth in the budget he says was reflected in the allocation made to the attorney general for foreign legal advice. The Opposition leader says he is also concerned about the move to set up a National Infrastructural Bank.
He has warned the government not to be comfortable with unveiling a defict budget every year but says it is time the finance minister show how the revenue will be generated and if there are indeed any concrete plans for the economy.
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