There is a sobering reality that Trinidad and Tobago can no longer afford to ignore: our fiscal situation cannot be managed by political convenience forever.
Government may be reluctant to make the harsh and unpopular decisions necessary to bring spending, revenues and the economy back into balance. But arithmetic does not care about politics.
If we continue down a road where expenditure keeps outrunning our capacity to earn, borrow and generate foreign exchange, there may come a point when external assistance possibly from the IMF, is no longer a choice but a necessity.
And that is when the real pain could begin.
An IMF programme would almost certainly demand fiscal discipline and difficult adjustments. Decisions that our own government could have made gradually and intelligently may instead have to be made quickly under external pressure.
Why wait until someone else is holding the pen?
We should not allow T&T to reach the stage where an international institution has to tell us what we already know: government cannot spend money it does not have, and a country cannot continue living beyond its means indefinitely.
The government still has an opportunity to make the difficult decisions on its own terms, at its own pace and in the national interest.
Let us not wait until the IMF is sitting at the table before we discover fiscal discipline.
THE CHOICE IS OURS TODAY. TOMORROW, CIRCUMSTANCES MAY MAKE THE CHOICE FOR US.
Gordon Laughlin,
Westmoorings
