Headline Inflation falls to 3.9 per cent

According to the article below, headline inflation is down to 3.9 per cent in May and the major reason for this is the drop in food inflation from 15% in April to 8.2% in May. Is the Central Bank trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the citizens? Has anyone experienced a decline in food prices? Because I certainly haven't...

HEADLINE INFLATION RATE FALLS TO 3.9 PER CENT:

CENTRAL BANK MAINTAINS ‘REPO’ RATE AT 3.25 PER CENT

Recent data released by the Central Statistical Office indicate that inflation continued on a downward trajectory in May for the fifth consecutive month.  On a year‐on‐year basis, headline inflation slowed to 3.9 per cent in May from 6.4 per cent in the previous month. Headline inflation is now at the lowest level since January 2010 when the rate measured 3.7 per cent. On a monthly basis, the Index of Retail Prices fell by 0.4 per cent in May following an increase of a similar magnitude in the previous month. Core inflation, which excludes the impact of food prices, measured 1.3 per cent (year‐on‐year) in May, the same rate as in the previous month.

The marked slowdown in headline inflation is due, in large measure, to the sharp decline in food inflation which fell to 8.2 per cent in May from 15.0 per cent in April. This decline reflected the “base effect” associated with the surge in food prices in May 2010 as well as the 1.0 per cent decline in food prices during the month of May 2011. On a monthly basis, the fall in prices in May for fish (‐6.7 per cent), vegetables (‐2.5 per cent) and sugar and confectionery products (‐0.2 per cent) compensated for price increases in other major food groups such as oils and fats (2.9 per cent), fruits (4.8 per cent), bread and cereals (0.6 per cent) and meat (0.4 per cent).

The Bank continues to be cautious about the outlook for domestic inflation given the steady increase in the global price of some key grains such as corn and soya meal which are major inputs in some main domestic food groups such as dairy products and poultry. Over the last four months, credit conditions in the financial system have shown incipient signs of a weak recovery.  In the twelve months to April 2011, private sector credit extended by the consolidated financial system fell by 0.8 per cent (year‐on‐year) following declines of 1.4 per cent in March and 2.3 per cent at the start of the year. Within the financial sector, commercial bank lending to the private sector rose by 1.6 per cent in April (year‐on‐year) while credit extended by non‐bank financial institutions recorded a 13.3 per cent decline.

Both consumer credit and real estate mortgage lending have been the major drivers behind the improvement in overall credit, growing by relatively robust rates of 6.7 per cent and 8.8 per cent, respectively in the twelve months to April 2011. Business lending still remains relatively sluggish and declined for the eighteenth consecutive month by 5.9 per cent.

In recent months, lower net fiscal injections along with the liquidity absorption measures employed by the Central Bank have helped to reduce liquidity in the financial system. In June, actions by the Central Bank in the government securities and foreign exchange markets withdrew approximately $125 million from the financial system. Commercial banks’ excess reserve balances at the Central Bank have averaged $1.3 billion in June so far compared with $2.0 billion in December 2010.    As liquidity conditions tightened, some commercial banks tapped the inter‐bank market as well as the ‘Repo’ window at the Central Bank to meet their short‐term funding requirements.

In the somewhat tighter liquidity environment, short‐term interest rates continued to increase with the yield on 3‐month treasury bills rising to 0.98 per cent in June, up from 0.68 per cent in May and 0.47 per cent in April.  As a consequence, the differential between local and US short‐term interest rates widened to 93 basis points in June from 62 basis points in May.

With the recovery in credit gaining steady momentum and with underlying inflationary pressures remaining well contained for the time being, the Bank has decided to maintain the ‘Repo’ rate at 3.25 per cent.

The Bank will continue to keep economic and monetary conditions under close review.

The next ‘Repo’ rate announcement is scheduled for July 29, 2011.
June 24, 2011.

Source: Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago

KAMLA 2010

The Peoples Partnership

http://www.kamla.tt

http://www.unitednationalcongress.org/

http://www.coptnt.com

President Obama's Diwali Message

Is Annisette viable?

Sunday, October 11 2009

Source: Newsday

INDEPENDENT Senator Michael Annisette’s inflamed speech to the Senate last week Thursday raises serious questions as to his impartiality in that office, and on his suitability to continue in such an esteemed post.

“I am not afraid of you; You made a mistake to mess with a dock worker,” he had stormed.

There are two issues.

Firstly, we consider that as a director of Udecott appointed by the Government he had absolutely no business taking part in that debate, in the role of a Senator who is supposedly independent. Secondly, we say he was wrong to use the parliamentary chamber to attack other people, including a politician, a businessman and even a journalist. He kept looking in the direction of the press gallery and shouting, “Where is Mr Bagoo” (Newsday reporter).

More fundamentally, was the fact that Mr Annisette in the guise of an Independent Senator, passionately defended a Government company which is embroiled in controversy over the awards of billions of dollars in contracts, while also vehemently attacking the character of other individuals.

The whole issue was, to us, a blatant conflict of interest.

If Mr Annisette felt he had to get something off his chest in his own defence, he should instead have sought to simply make his views known and then get on with the debate on hand.

In addition to the content of his speech, we also have serious concerns about Mr Annisette’s style of delivery.

Mr Annisette’s delivery was loud and some might also say, aggressive. Further, while speaking he vigorously waved his arms around with an apparently agitated body language.

It was a sight never seen before within living memory on the Independent benches.

We accept that things may get heated in the cut and thrust of partisan politics in the elected Lower House. Such partisanship may even spill over a little into the Upper House between Government and Opposition Senators. But this conduct should never be displayed by an Independent Senator.

By and large, the purpose of the Senate in a bicameral parliament is to be a restraint on the raw power of the Lower House. Further, within the Senate itself, the Independent Senators are expected to be the voice of moderation and decorum.

Up to this time, Trinidad and Tobago has been very well served indeed by the dignity of our past Independent Senators.

Sadly, Mr Annisette’s speech last week was certainly not calm, reasoned, measured and impartial.

He has failed to assuage fears of a conflict of interest in his role as an Independent Senator and as a director of Udecott (and other State boards), or that he has the right temperament to be an Independent Senator.

We say it is time for Mr Annisette to do some serious soul-searching about his future.

This man doesn't have one independent bone in his body, he is an outright PNM to the bone, PNM till he dead. What he doing as an independent senator, only Max could answer that. And we all know how good Max is at selecting people with integrity. After the Integrity Commission fiasco, we know for sure just how qualified Max is at selecting people to serve the country. Max and Annisette are both creatures of the PNM and should both be forced to resign ASAP!!

Four more murders push the toll to 408

Four more murders
Gyasi Gonzales
Source: Trinidad Express

Thursday, October 1st 2009

PAIN: Avril Dowell, left, is consoled by a relative after her son, Mikhail (inset), was killed on Tuesday night at Priest Hill in St Joseph. -Photo: ABRAHAM DIAZ

FOUR more men have been murdered as the spate of violent crimes continued across the country, pushing the toll to 408 as of last evening.

And although the police have lumped all these killings as "gang related homicides", the relatives of the dead offered other motives.

The first murder occurred in St Joseph.

The victim, Mikhail Dowell, 18, was chopped to death just before 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

According to the police, Dowell was liming with some friends at Priest Hill, which is off King Street in St Joseph, when they were approached by another group of young men.

Police said there was an argument and Dowell was grabbed by a man and chopped on the neck repeatedly.

The man who chopped Dowell and the group he came with then ran off and remained at large up to last night. One of Dowell's friends held the young man's head but his wounds were so severe he quickly bled to death.

The St Joseph police were called, along with Dowell's family.

Yesterday, his mother, Avril Dowell, said that "as far as I know", the men who killed her son came looking for someone else.

"It's a case of mistaken identity," she said.

The police said they did not believe the killer really intended to kill Dowell.

And around 8 p.m. at Mason Street Extension in Diego Martin, Jahkimo Brewster, 28, was liming with friends when a man crept out of a bushy gully and opened fire on the group.

Brewster and another man, 20-year-old Dillon Rodney, were hit. Brewster ran a short distance, collapsed and died. Rodney was taken to hospital where he was treated.

The Express met two female relatives of Brewster yesterday morning at the Forensic Science Centre in St James, but they would only confirm the correct spelling of his name, nothing else.

In another incident, Leandro Baptiste, 24, was killed around 9.30 a.m. in Woodbrook. He was employed with the Port of Spain City Corporation as well as SM Jaleel.

According to eyewitnesses, Baptiste and a group of city corporation employees were on a pavement rebuilding jobsite at Luis Street, when a Nissan Wingroad driven by someone he knew stopped near the site.

A man who spoke to the Express near the scene yesterday said a man came out the vehicle and walked towards Baptiste. Both men spoke and the killer walked off.

Just before getting into his car, however, the man turned around and walked back towards Baptiste. He pulled him close, embraced him and told him something. He then withdrew a pistol and shot Baptiste in the abdomen. As Baptiste fell, the killer fired more shots until the gun was empty. He then cooly walked back to his car, got in and calmly drove off.

When approached by the Express yesterday, workers on the jobsite claimed they knew nothing.

"Apologies rastaman but we eh know nutting," said one man.

Some of Baptiste's relatives later arrived on the scene. They confirmed that Baptiste had been threatened.

When asked why, one of his relatives said, "Jealousy, they was jealous of him."

The fourth murder occurred at 11 a.m. yesterday.

Police said they knew the victim, Duane "Bad Jesus" Joseph, very well. They said Joseph was on Duke Street, Port of Spain, when he was attacked by a gunman. Joseph was still able to run to Nelson Street where he collapsed. He was taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital but died before he got there.

Some PNM apologists would say that the PNM does not have a program where they teach criminals to be criminals, therefore the PNM is not responsible. The question I ask is, who is in control of the State's Treasury and all the necessary resources to curb criminal activity? Not the ruling PNM-led Government? Therefore who should be held accountable? You and I? I think not. Wake up and smell the rottening corpses T&T!

How to make a Budget

How to make a Budget
Kevin Baldeosingh
Trinidad Express

Friday, September 11th 2009

Over the past week, all serious commentators have analysed the Budget, but now I am going to do so. In order to understand the 2009-2010 Budget, and all Budgets for the past eight years, you have to understand the principles, perspectives, and PNMs that inform the various measures. Without this, you may fall into the trap of looking for economic ideas, policy measures, or common sense.

For example, given the world-wide slump and the drop in government revenues, you might have expected a Budget which emphasised austerity and which tried to avoid a deficit that may well worsen the country's fiscal situation in the near future. But, if that's what you were thinking, you are clearly unaware of the first rule of Budget-making in Trinidad and Tobago, which is:

If You Doh Spend, Yuh Cyar Tief

This is why in the second paragraph of the Budget, Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira read, "My profound appreciation is also extended to the Honourable Prime Minister and my Cabinet colleagues who share with me collective responsibility for the integrity of this Budget." This, you would recall, was the same reasoning Nunez-Tesheira used to claim there was no conflict of interest in her overseeing the bailout of CL Financial while she was a shareholder in CL Financial. However, since this Cabinet is headed by a Prime Minister who falsely alleged that $10 million were missing from the Cleaver Heights project, who has had four court decisions go against him in six years, and who needs $3 million drapes, Nunez-Tesheira's statement is not persuasive. But she feels free to make such absurd assertions because of Rule#2:

Those Who Fail To Learn From The Past Are Condemned To Vote PNM

Everybody with sense, and even some radio talkshow hosts, warned the Manning administration that it was repeating the policy mistakes of the first energy boom of 1973. Back then, the oil dollars were also wasted on grandiose projects rather than sustainable development and inflation reached double digits. And, now that the second boom is bust, the same strategy which failed in 1983 is being pursued again. When the bottom dropped out of the oil barrel in 1982, the Government did not reduce expenditure. Instead, it increased its wage bill by $1.4 billion. By 1983, unemployment began creeping upward, by 1986 the Treasury was pretty much emptied, in 1988 the NAR administration had to go to the IMF, and by 1989 unemployment was 22 per cent. Which brings us to Rule#3:

You Can Fool All People Some Of The Time, And PNM Supporters All Of The Time

"As we have clearly illustrated, our current economic performance is creditable by any standard," Nunez-Tesheira told T&T last Monday. Well, apparently not by the standards of the Global Competitiveness Report. Although T&T's ranking in 2009 improved for the first time in five years to 86th out of 133 countries, it seems the Government's standards for measuring economic performance are not the Report's, which cites inefficient bureaucracy, corruption, and crime as undermining business in this country. The Report also ranks us 122nd in the prevalence of organised crime. Which reveals Rule#4:

Budgets Are For PNM-Till-Ah-Deads, Even When They Deading "We will not waiver from our zero-tolerance posture towards criminal activity," read Nunez-Tesheira, with nary a blush. "From the traffic violator to the kidnapper, from the white-collar criminal to the drug trafficker, the message to the criminals is simple: you will be found and brought to justice and you will feel the full brunt of the law. The Government will act to eliminate criminal activity at all levels, especially gang related activity."

Yet the Unemployment Relief Programme has still been allocated $429 million, which should fund a good bit of gang-related activity. Last year, the murder rate among URP workers alone was 50 per 100,000 (compared to a national rate of 40 per 100,000). The Government has spent billions more dollars on blimps, crime plans, boats, radar, helicopters, even as murders reached 540 last year and are already past 350 with four months still left in 2009. So why would a Government which claims to be serious about crime refuse to revamp the URP? Because of the final rule of Budget making:

Do So Doh Like So

"Our vision is for a nation where there is respect for the rule of law and human rights and the promotion of the principles of democracy," Nunez-Tesheira read in the conclusion to the Budget, while all around the country even PNMs snickered. After all, her dear leader has spent the past fiscal year defending Calder Hart, shafting the Draft Gender Policy, invading a radio station, and giving public lectures to explain why he should be Executive President, Benevolent Dictator, and Cutest Christian in the Caribbean.

kbaldeosingh@hotmail.com

One of the best commentaries of the 2010 budget so far.

Bravo Mr. Baldeosingh! Give this man a standing ovation.

Sharma asks: Is the PNM against East Indians?

Anna Ramdass aramdass@trinidadexpress.com
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161532862

Thursday, September 17th 2009

People of East Indian origin are being discriminated against by the People's National Movement (PNM) at every level of society, an upset Opposition MP Chandresh Sharma has said.

In his contribution to the budget debate on Monday, Sharma raised the issue of racial discrimination against Indians and pointed out a number of areas where he claimed Government had been unfair in its distribution and hiring practices.

He noted that some $5m was given to the Emancipation Committee when $150,000 was given to the Indian Arrival Day committee.

"Shame!" fired Information Minister Neil Parsanlal as Sharma hit back, "That's not shame that's racism and that's discrimination and that's what the PNM survives on, they play the race card morning, noon and night".

Sharma proceeded to point out that of the 178 students awarded Government scholarships to study in Grenada only 16 were of East Indian origin.

He further added that 16 Ambassadors placed in different countries, only two are of East Indian origin.

Parsanlal shot back at Sharma saying, "I am ashamed that on every occasion this has to descend into race...that on every occasion this Parliament has to be treated with this kind of nonsense".

Sharma persisted, noting that of the 28 permanent secretaries, three were of East Indian origin and of 33 deputy permanent secretaries, five were of East Indian origin.

He added that in the state enterprises of the 250 board directors of 30 corporations only 35 were on East Indian origin.

"What is happening to the East Indians in this country?...Is the PNM against them?" he asked.

PNM is a racist Goverment! TALK DONE!