With all signs of a decelerating economy in St. Kitts and Nevis, a call has been made for the Timothy Harris-led Team Unity Government to steer the ship of state in the right direction.
“Something has to be done. It has to be done quickly. The government needs to sit down with stakeholders and begin to look at new economic policies and programmes to steer our country into a better light for the future,” said the Leader of the Opposition and former prime minister, the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas.
“The economy has declined. It is declining faster than anticipated. The growth trajectory that it was on when we left office has begun to decline because this government has come into office and has brought nothing new to sustain the growth rate and new economic paths of development,” said Dr. Douglas during his Wednesday radio call-in programme “Ask the Leader” on KYSS 102.5 FM.
He said the time has come or a meaningful national consultation on the economy to determine where it goes into the future,
Dr. Douglas noted recent local, regional and international reports all confirming the continuing decline in economic growth since the PLP/CCM/PAM administration took office on February 16th 2015.
Dr. Douglas referred to TDC’S annual report stated that its operations were impacted by decline in Home and Building Depots (St. Kitts and Nevis), TDC Rentals Limited and TDC Rentals (Nevis) Limited, TDC Insurance Company Limited, TDC Tours Ltd and St. Kitts Masonry Products. The Drinks Depot registered disappointing performance, while losses were recorded in the Shipping Departments in St. Kitts and Nevis.
TDC said the construction sector was negatively impacted by events in the Citizenship By Investment programme and the resulting down turn in demand for properties to serve it. Public Sector capital investment declined in 2016.
The profit for the Home and Buildings in Nevis and St. Kitts also declined. The St. Kitts Masonry Products Ltd reported a significant decline in profit due to a reduction in the demand for blocks and ready mix concrete as the construction industry contracted during the year.
The decline in TDC Rentals Ltd and TDC Rentals (Nevis) Ltd was as a result of a number of long-term car rental contracts with several construction related businesses in St. Kitts expiring.
Carib Brewery (St. Kitts and Nevis) in its annual report for 2016 said it is now estimated that growth in the St. Kitts and Nevis economy declined to 3.5 percent in 2016, from 3.8 percent in 2015 and that its profit was impacted by the decline in the local economy with a 37 percent decline in export sales and a seven percent decrease in total revenue.
In its forecast the UK-based Latin America Monitor said St. Kitts and Nevis will see economic activity decline over the next two years as weaker investment inflows from its Citizenship-By-Investment (CBI) programme weigh on construction activity and a slowing tourism growth weigh on consumption.
The St. Kitts-based Eastern Caribbean Currency Authority (ECCB) in July reported it revised downward the GDP for St. Kitts and Nevis from 2.84 percent to 2.36 percent for 2017. In January, it had downgraded the GDP for St. Kitts and Nevis from 3.02 percent to 2.84 percent.
The Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a recent report said the St. Kitts and Nevis economy contracted in manufacturing output, the overall fiscal surplus narrowed and there was significant widening of the current account deficit.