Opposition call out St Kitts-Nevis PM for ‘pretending economy is good’

The official opposition has fired back at claims from the St Kitts and Nevis government that the country’s economy is stable.

And the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party have called on Prime Minister Timothy Harris to admit that the situation could get worse before it gets better.

Last week the Eastern Caribbean Central Banks revised down the projected growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in the federation from 2.84% to 2.36%.

A slight increase is expected next year.

This follows a similar move in January, which saw projections fall from 3.02% to 2.84%.

Earlier this week the prime minister’s office said that they believed confidence in the St Kitts and Nevis economy was high, and consumer spending was growing strongly. [caption id="attachment_1219" align="alignright" width="187"] Prime Minister Timothy Harris.[/caption]

And despite this drop, the PM’s spokesman cited a Financial Times publication that reports positively about the finanical future.

A government source told WIC News that the growth remains strong when you compare it to the global economic picture and “there are many factors to consider when analysing the numbers.”

Hardship across islands

A number of opposition party members have point to a slump from GDP growth of 7% in 2014 to an average of 3% in 2017 and 2018.

But across the region there appears to be lower growth.

Antigua and Barbuda leaders the way with a projection of 5.07% upwards, followed by Anguilla (3.4%) and Dominica (3.12%).

The leader of the St Kitts-Nevis Labour says the statistics show he was right to describe the federation’s economy as worsening under the Team Unity governmente St. Kitts and Nevis economy was worsening under the Team Unity government.

“The growth rate in the economy was doing so well to grow us out of the serious international economic and financial crisis experienced in 2008,” said Denzil Douglas, the former prime minister.

[caption id="attachment_2521" align="alignleft" width="300"] Denzil Douglas, leader of the opposition and former prime minister.[/caption]

“That rate of growth is now decelerating and not accelerating as the Team Unity government wants us to believe.”

Konris Maynard, MP for West Basseterre, accused the government of giving a false impression to the country that the economy is rosy and doing well.

There are people out there who are in the streets, who have businesses and who are saying ‘No Mr. PM, stop pretending that the economy is good’,” he said, referencing a decrease in CBI receipts, a deceleration in tourism-linked sectors, a contraction in manufacturing output, a narrowing of the overall fiscal surplus and a significant widening of the current account deficit.

“Do what you have to do and inform the public that things may even get worse so that we will be in a position to deal with the economic shocks that are anticipated.”