(Trinidad Express) Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler and Opposition Leader Owen Arthur yesterday clashed on economic policy, with Arthur likening the Government’s taxing of allowances to the controversial eight per cent public servants’ pay cut of 1991.
So intense was the exchange that Sinckler referred to Arthur as “yesterday’s man trying to operate in today’s world”, while Arthur called Sinckler “a rapacious Minister of Finance” who did not understand that increased taxes would drive the economy into the ground.
In the pre-lunch session of debate, Arthur said that strengthening demand and stimulating domestic funding could pave the way for economic growth.
Stating that 75 per cent of the economy was driven by domestic demand, Arthur said any growth strategy would have to rely on that demand in a recession.
