Published 26 August 2020
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
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Leadership Matters on ZIZ – Tuesday, August 25th, 2020
As Prepared for Delivery
The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted our lives, put persons out of work, and undermined the ability of fathers and mothers to care for themselves and their families. Thankfully, we are people blessed by God. We have been exhibiting resilience, innovation and security in the face of the global pandemic, and as we imminently start in September celebrating the 37th Anniversary of nationhood we recommit that we are ready, willing and able to deliver the stronger and safer future in spite of the battering by COVID-19 and the falloff of $188 million in recurrent revenues over the first six (6) months of 2020 owing mainly to COVID-19, compared to the same period of 2019.
This health and economic crisis has no precedent and no template to guide us. No leader before has faced such a monumental crisis or challenge. I promise to do all in my power with the Grace of God to lead our people to the Canaan land. A brighter day is at hand. Working together, we will succeed.
St. Kitts and Nevis at 37
Tonight, I want to spend some time appreciating the remarkable, enviable position of St. Kitts and Nevis in the world, reflecting our towering position above our peers in the Hemisphere.
As we approach our 37th year of independence, we pause to reflect on our strengths and weaknesses as we explore alternative approaches for enhancing our Nation’s Growth and Prosperity, post-COVID-19. Our strategy has been to contain the economic recession, avoid the loss of lives and restore the Country to pre-COVID-19 levels of economic activity followed by expanding growth rates.
We are proud of the discretionary policy actions we employed. We have not introduced any new taxes over the last five (5) years.
We have held the line on VAT and other taxes, allowing households to keep more of what they earned in their pockets. We went further and removed VAT on food, medicine and funeral expenses — and to help our citizens and residents deal with COVID-19, we removed VAT on sanitizers and other products to help in the fight against COVID-19.
We reduced unsustainably high current account deficits and cumulative outstanding government debt.
We reduced the cost of servicing the public debt, freeing up funds, which today are being used for building roads.
We exerted the required fiscal discipline for living within our means. That is why with an unprecedented $120-million stimulus package we did not need to borrow from anywhere.
On March 25th, when the first two (2) cases of COVID-19 were revealed, we were the example of the best-managed small island state.
Economic Indices
Setting aside the USA and Canada, the per capita income for St. Kitts and Nevis ranks third among sovereign states of the Western Hemisphere and number one in the OECS. Only the Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago are higher. Put differently, St. Kitts and Nevis has demonstrated a greater capacity for providing for the welfare of its people than other states in the Western Hemisphere.
Exports per capita for St. Kitts and Nevis are ranked second among the member states of CARICOM. Only the Bahamas is higher.
We commend the high productivity and performance of our workers at Jaro Electronics, Harowe Servo, Electrofab, Kajola Kristada, St. Kitts Brush Ltd, etc. for their contributions to export earnings and the global supply of products.
We must not rest on our laurels. There is still more work to be done.
While St. Kitts and Nevis has a per capita income of US$30,208 (at purchasing power parity – PPP), which is an impressive statistic among small island states, there is still much more progress to be realized. We look to the success of Bermuda and Singapore as we search for examples to inspire our nation and people to higher performance.
The high debt burden that strangled us at 186 percent of GDP is now behind us. Our debt-to-GDP ratio is the lowest among all independent countries of the OECS. We surpassed the international benchmark of a 60 percent debt-to-GDP in 2018, ahead of every independent nation in the OECS.
The Nation has an Import Problem
Each of the major GDP indicators is moving in the right direction with the single exception of imports. As we look to the future, we will increase the contribution of agriculture to food security, foreign exchange earnings, employment and growth. The significant investments in agriculture and fisheries since March 2020 will bear fruit in the short and medium terms. We have supplied over $5 million of inputs to farmers and fishers to increase their outputs.
An estimated EC ($-1.5 billion) is leaving the country for purchasing goods and services abroad. I commend the Buy Local Campaign launched recently by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Let us buy local food, masks, wine, rum, beer, etc. in preference to imports.
We do not have much control over imports of manufactured products. But we do have control over imports of food products, which account for approximately thirty (30) percent of all imports.
To the extent that St. Kitts and Nevis can increase its production of domestic food products while reducing its imports of food products, the total Gross Domestic Product will increase, and with it the Nation’s per capita GDP. Our Independence journey is about our taking control of our health, our lives and our destiny. By supporting local businesses, we reinforce our commitment to our Country.
St. Kitts and Nevis has arrived at the take-off stage of economic development. Notwithstanding, there are a number of steps that must be taken if we are to arrive at that glorious state of economic bliss in which outstanding performance in meeting individual and national goals are recognized and rewarded.
Incentive-Based Compensation
The introduction of an Incentive-Based Compensation or “Pay for Performance” Plan is critical to meeting the Nation’s mission and objectives. For many organizations, this well-trenched private sector practice is now being embraced by the public sector. Ambassador Vance Amory will lead this national effort at reform of our public service. He will be assisted with a local consultant and Ambassador Dr. Everson Hull.
More of this will be articulated in due course.
Wages and salaries constitute a heavy burden for Government in the range of $225 million per year. For the period January to June 2020, we have spent $113.5 million on payroll. We have to ensure those who are in receipt of wages and salaries are giving value for money. We have to cut out waste, unnecessary overtime, abuse of Government vehicles, and hold persons accountable for damage to Government’s property.
Incentive-Based Compensation should serve as a powerful tool that motivates our most highly valued employees to enhance their work effort. This would see:
- Increased production of domestic food products.
- New innovations in technology that are well suited for meeting the demands of the global marketplace.
- Improvements in the Global “Ease of Doing Business” Ranking by innovative approaches for starting a new business or registering property.
- Courtesies extended to locals, as well as to visitors in order to motivate an increase in stay-over arrivals; and
- Increased interest in the Diaspora policy that motivates experienced nationals abroad to return to their place of birth and make a contribution.
As we look to the future, we will rely more and more on our young people to do more, take on more responsibility and use their talents and gifts to build out St. Kitts and Nevis as the Garden of Eden.
I have entrusted the Hon. Member of St. Christopher 3 to coordinate my Government’s programme to infuse ICT and employ the Talent, inspire Entrepreneurship and motivate our Youths for the responsible task of nation building.
I take pleasure in inviting her to give her opening remarks.
May God bless St. Kitts and Nevis.
