Politicians,
accusing each other of bad management or corruption while in office, runs the
danger of spreading hate in a once loving society. This Hate and Suspicion, in
a struggling economy, can easily trigger social unrest, insurrection and civil
war. The population needs leadership, ‘Better not Blame’. Leadership that
understands the important issues and listens to all points-of-view, ‘Decide and
Do. Implement a strong programme of economic diversification to stop job
losses, prevent business closures, and halt declining tax revenues. Negotiate
flat or low growth in public expenditure, with workers' unions, to benefit all
the people and rebuild the economy. Deliver essential Security, Health and
Education services supported by recurrent cost, infrastructure building and
maintenance. Manage debt servicing to yield some future savings, and reduce the
nation’s total debt, which would be left to the nation’s grand and great
grandchildren.
The Executive, consisting of politicians who work to
win elections, must design policies and implement strategies to deliver a
better standard of living for the citizenry. The mission is to redirect an
extremely vulnerable Nation, which is heavily dependent on international
economic drivers, with world commodities prices and tourism visitor numbers out
of its control. Extractive industries, producing Petroleum, Metal, Stone, etc.,
are open to price fluctuations in a market, based on supply and demand.
Agricultural exports, putting food on the table, are also market priced driven
but with additional risks exposure from weather conditions. Service based
sectors, built through local education and training, are designed to cultivate,
human talents and skills, into geographic areas that offers more or better
opportunities, with
remittances paid back home. Tourism sectors, based on a story, view or
activity, are extremely price competitive and all must be very careful in who,
and when, visitors are allowed.
The Parliament,
similar to an organization’s boardroom, is where policies are presented and
debated into law. With opposing positions, such strategies are strengthened to
limit faults and with majority and special majority rules in effect,
legislation is not easily amended without opposition politicians’ support. Full
support is needed to reverse heavy job losses and stabilize wage growth while,
building economic confidence and moving out of a recession. Research and
regulations are key to the necessary diversification needed in a largely single
product economy, utilizing a high percentage of local raw materials, inputs and
skills, funded by national expenditure. Foreign and local private sector investments
would also be needed to establish physical facilities and production processes, to meet market requirements. Developing such sectors or industries
may also require special technical support from university labs or more
experienced market participants. While targeting and penetrating new markets
with innovative products using promotional strategies with affordable prices.
The Ministries, Agencies and Departments that focus on
Economic Drivers, must be dedicated to sourcing investment. New direct foreign
or local investment, in research, targeting and developing sectors and
industries, with clear competitive advantages, is the only hope to create and
replace loss opportunities and jobs. Research, from all sources, is essential
to planning processes involved in creating or modernizing any of the nation's
operations, requiring funding for labs, patents, and licenses. Targeting
markets, which ultimately; need, can afford and will support, the nation's
products, requires new investment and reassignment of existing resources.
Developing and maintaining production capacity to deliver the highest quality
at the requested quantity, is key to the nation's sustained earnings, requiring
additional allocations for industry regulations and parliamentary oversight.
The Parliament, the Executive and every Politician, involved
in nation building, policy-setting, approving and implementing, must work
together, having the total national debt at the foundation and forerunner of
all decision-making. The nation’s debt, expanded and used to fund growing
deficits, are unsustainable and will open the door to welcome the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and its harsh fiscal programmes. Deficits, which
accumulates over years, are as a result of expenditure that is larger than the
income to deal with it, in the same period and requires borrowing. Borrowings,
which are better employed to build capacity; Utilities, Police stations,
Hospitals, Schools, Ports and Roads. Debt Servicing, pays fees, interest and
principal amounts, charged on outstanding debt balances and hence, adds to the
recurrent expenditure. Treasury Bills are used to borrow from the public to
finance central bank operations. This and other off-Balance Sheet financial
instruments must also be added, to correctly value the nation's total debt. And
all must note, this Debt, managed by the nation’s leaders, is the sovereign
responsibility of the entire population.
Rationale
T.A.J
& Associates Company Limited uses this occasion to
comment on topics that have been covered, both academically and by the
mainstream media, to add its opinion and point out investment opportunity, not
to invoke any social action.
