Searchlight Logo
special_image

    • News
      • Front Page
      • News
      • Breaking News
      • Press Release
      • Features
      • Special Features
      • From the Courts
      • Sports
      • Regional / World
    • Opinions
      • Editorial
      • Our Readers’ Opinions
      • Bassy – Love Vine
      • Dr. Fraser- Point of View
      • R. Rose – Eye of the Needle
      • On Target
      • Dr Jozelle Miller
      • The World Around Us
      • Random Thoughts
    • Advice
      • Kitchen Corner
      • What’s on Fleek this week
      • Health Wise
      • Physician’s Weekly
      • Business Buzz
      • Hey Rosie!
      • Prime the pump
    • ePaper
    • Obituaries
      • In Memoriam / Acknowledgement
      • Tribute
    • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Letters To The Editor
      • General Contact Information
      • Contact our Webmaster
    • About Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Interactive Media Ltd
      • St. Vincent & the Grenadines
    • Subscribe
    • News
      • Front Page
      • News
      • Breaking News
      • Press Release
      • Features
      • Special Features
      • From the Courts
      • Sports
      • Regional / World
    • Opinions
      • Editorial
      • Our Readers’ Opinions
      • Bassy – Love Vine
      • Dr. Fraser- Point of View
      • R. Rose – Eye of the Needle
      • On Target
      • Dr Jozelle Miller
      • The World Around Us
      • Random Thoughts
    • Advice
      • Kitchen Corner
      • What’s on Fleek this week
      • Health Wise
      • Physician’s Weekly
      • Business Buzz
      • Hey Rosie!
      • Prime the pump
    • ePaper
    • Obituaries
      • In Memoriam / Acknowledgement
      • Tribute
    • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Letters To The Editor
      • General Contact Information
      • Contact our Webmaster
    • About Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Interactive Media Ltd
      • St. Vincent & the Grenadines
    • Subscribe
Our Readers' Opinions
February 25, 2011

SVG: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

I had reservations on SVG going it alone as an independent state. We, however, had no choice. The British no longer wanted us as colonies and the Federation had failed. We were not even able to reflect upon what constitutes viability in a nation state. On a purely pragmatic basis, one would think that, initially, a nation’s recurrent revenue ought to be able to cover its recurrent expenditure and a substantial part of its capital expenditure.{{more}} Capital expenditure is important for it makes possible investment in housing, roads, schools and other projects without which an economy cannot grow. With this sort of investible surplus, we would eventually get to the stage where, while welcoming foreign aid, we would not be too heavily dependent on it.

Around the time of Independence, the auguries were not good for SVG. Mainly because of the hike in oil prices, the Government virtually could not pay salaries in December 1974. It had to make a major push on three fronts to ensure that this did not happen again. In the recurrent budget, it introduced new taxes and raised old ones. It froze salaries in the public sector and curbed foreign travel. It set up the National Commercial Bank. The Government also redoubled its efforts to expand the manufacturing sector. These initiatives bore fruit. The economy grew by 9% per annum between 1975 and 1978. After not being able to pay salaries in 1974, it had by 1976 achieved a budget surplus. The salaries of the public sector which had been frozen for some eight years now had to be unfrozen with an increase of nearly 30%. This immediately resulted in a deficit. To make matters worse, the volcano erupted. We all realized then that SVG is not only small, it is disaster prone and very vulnerable to external shocks. We have always to keep a very tight rein on the public finances.

We limped along for some years. In 1985, however, a budget surplus was achieved, and this continued to be the case until 2008. We did particularly well in the period 2004 to 2008. Overall, the economy grew by about 25%, recurrent revenue grew even faster by almost 50%, so that by 2008 we had a record surplus of over $50 million. Then we had another external shock, not an oil price hike as in 1974, but an international financial crisis. Again we have been plunged into recurrent budgetary deficits.

Once more the Government has pulled out all stops. Firstly, recurrent expenditure is to be curbed by the measures mentioned in the 2011 budget.

Secondly, efforts to grow the economy continue apace. For several reasons, the manufacturing sector will not be able to play the developmental role it did in 1974. The Government has rightly focussed on the tourism sector. This is what the Argyle Airport, the Canouan Airport and the Hospitality Institute are all about. Direct foreign investment should lead to the emergence of the wind and solar energy sectors. The foreign exchange saved when we no longer have to import so much fuel for electricity will help the construction sector which relies heavily on imports. It has long been obvious that the banana industry will eventually cater only for the Caribbean market. What is heartening is the extent to which farmers and back yard gardeners have taken to fruit and vegetable production. In nearly every community, we now see stalls selling local produce.

Thirdly, a debt management strategy is in place. Presumably this is why the CDB took over $100 million of our debt and refinanced it at a lower cost to us. SVG is lucky to have a Director- General of the calibre of Maurice Edwards.

Fourthly, we have long sought to minimize recurrent expenditure by sharing with the rest of the OECS the cost of such services as the judiciary, civil aviation and central banking. The Treaty of Basseterre seeks to carry the process much further. But will it be enough? Should we not be plugging for a unitary state of the OECS? Nine governments and a regional co-ordinating agency like the OECS are a helluva lot of government for a region of only 600,000 people. It would certainly help Montserrat, which represents an extreme version of the dilemma all the OECS faces. In that tiny volcano-beset island, recurrent expenditure is twice recurrent revenue, and the people who have to make up the difference, the UK Government, are kicking up a fuss.

In the rest of the OECS, recurrent revenue and recurrent expenditure are more in sync, but we are not making the surplus that would make us less reliant on foreign aid. We must not wait until the aid donors tell us that the party is over. If we had fewer governments, would we have a greater surplus?

Developments in communications, such as the Internet and fast ferries, ought to facilitate the operation of a unitary state. United we ought to be able to put an end to the exploitation now prevailing in cruiseship tourism, a vital sector of our economies. The nations now on the move are the developing countries of more than 10 million people like Brazil, China, India, Nigeria, even Ethiopia. We have to grow our country starting with the OECS. One can think of many other advantages. At least the OECS/ECCB should conduct a study on the implications of a unitary state.

  • FacebookComments
  • ALSO IN THE NEWS
    ULP presents slate of candidates for National Council’s approval
    Front Page
    ULP presents slate of candidates for National Council’s approval
    Webmaster 
    September 16, 2025
    THE GOVERNING Unity Labour Party (ULP), last Thursday, September 11, 2025, presented its full slate of candidates for approval at the party’s National...
    Ollivierre promises Ministry of Grenadines Development under NDP
    Front Page
    Ollivierre promises Ministry of Grenadines Development under NDP
    Webmaster 
    September 16, 2025
    OPPOSITION MEMBER of parliament for the Southern Grenadines, Terrance Ollivierre is promising a better life for the people of the constituency under a...
    North Windward elderly enjoy ‘Age with Grace’ at Sandy Bay
    Front Page
    North Windward elderly enjoy ‘Age with Grace’ at Sandy Bay
    Webmaster 
    September 16, 2025
    SCORES OF NORTH Windward residents turned out to the Sandy Bay Primary School on Saturday, September 13, 2025 to take part in a body care and wellness...
    ‘Outsider’ shot and killed in Layou
    Front Page
    ‘Outsider’ shot and killed in Layou
    Webmaster 
    September 16, 2025
    A MAN WHO WAS DESCRIBED as an “outsider” by several villagers before he was shot and killed in Layou last weekend, has been identified as 23-year-old ...
    Mainland, firmly NDP territory says Cummings
    Press Release
    Mainland, firmly NDP territory says Cummings
    Webmaster 
    September 16, 2025
    CHAIRMAN OFTHE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY (NDP), Daniel Cummings, has appealed to constituents in the Southern Grenadines to re-elect Terrance Ollivierre in...
    GEF, UNDP and Ministry of Agriculture Summer engagement Programme a success
    Press Release
    GEF, UNDP and Ministry of Agriculture Summer engagement Programme a success
    Webmaster 
    September 16, 2025
    IN A BOLD STEP toward cultivating the next generation of environmental leaders, the Ridge to Reef Project – funded by the Global Environment Facility ...
    News
    Vendor fined, bonded, and ordered to pay compensation for striking sleeping man
    From the Courts, News
    Vendor fined, bonded, and ordered to pay compensation for striking sleeping man
    Webmaster 
    September 16, 2025
    A VENDOR, who accused another man of vomiting and urinating in front of his family’s business place was bonded for striking the man in his stomach whi...
    Collaboration needed for more growth, says Tourism Authority President
    News
    Collaboration needed for more growth, says Tourism Authority President
    Webmaster 
    September 16, 2025
    GENERAL MANAGER OF Grenadine House and President of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority (SVGTA) Isola Giddings, says the country’s to...
    Foundation implements community driven project in SVG
    News
    Foundation implements community driven project in SVG
    Webmaster 
    September 12, 2025
    THE ASHLEY LASHLEY Foundation, with support from the United States Government, is implementing a local-level project entitled “Community-Driven Strate...
    Skills not available locally, non-nationals have to be hired says Finance Minister
    News
    Skills not available locally, non-nationals have to be hired says Finance Minister
    Webmaster 
    September 12, 2025
    NON- NATIONALS ARE being hired to fill several jobs in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) simply because locals did not have the required skill sets....
    Montgomery Daniel squashes rumours that he’s sick
    News
    Montgomery Daniel squashes rumours that he’s sick
    Webmaster 
    September 12, 2025
    DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER Montgomery Daniel has sought to clear around rumours that have been circulating relating to his health. Speaking on NBC radio on...

    E-EDITION
    ePaper
    google_play
    app_store
    Subscribe Now
    • Interactive Media Ltd. • P.O. Box 152 • Kingstown • St. Vincent and the Grenadines • Phone: 784-456-1558 © Copyright Interactive Media Ltd.. All rights reserved.
    We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok