More economics, less politics Published: Saturday, January 24, 2015 The world’s oil and gas price reductions have been the centre of focus and concern for all oil and gas producing nations around the world. It was no secret but rather commonly held knowledge that this day would come and hence responsible governments would have been duly advised to save to provide a hedge and to diversify their economies to create stability and sustainability. The Economist Magazine had an article a couple weeks ago outlining that this is no temporary price reduction as in the past but could last as much as two years. Opec however has taken the position that they will not act to regulate the prices as they have done in the past but rather they intend to wait it out and drive some of the smaller players out of the market. This is coupled with the vast global discovery of Shale gas. While all of this is taking place consumers in the US and other like countries are rejoicing. The reduction in prices has given them the opportunity to have more disposable income because they are paying less at the pump. T&T has been making some level of preparation over the years in the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund and by keeping the debt-to-GDP ratio down. However our diversification attempts have only yielded small successes which may add to the pot but it can by no means replace the shortfall in the main ingredient which is oil and natural gas. The prime minister attempted to address the nation in a bid to explain the current situation and probably instil some confidence in the population. However it was echoed by many that the attempt was timely but the opportunity was lost. At such a critical time in our economic and social development vague rhetoric will not cut it. The population is by far more educated and more exposed to relevant global information. The ministers in her cabinet also did not help when they held press conferences to advise businessmen not to make any new investments and to tell supermarket owners to keep the prices down and understand the situation. I am yet to hear any concrete plan or real strategy to move us forward or improve production and productivity to benefit from increased volume at the prevailing prices. It seems more like campaigning for the next election than trying to address what could be a road to economic depression if not managed well. At times like these I wonder why the aluminium smelter project was scrapped which was a major opportunity to diversify the economy and benefit from increased exports thereby adding to our economy. The magnitude of our problems cannot be solved with the pettiness of our politics. We would all do well to pay close attention and do our part to secure our nation’s future. Ronald Huggins St Joseph Letters Source:: Trinidad Guardian The post More economics, less politics appeared first on Trinidad & Tobago Online. #trinidad
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 06:04:57 +0000