00:00that somehow 22 billion dollars, 25 billion dollars is missing from this
00:09country and every, to every year we lose two billion US dollars. Well I didn't
00:18have the time to read the rest of the story. I just read the headline and the
00:23first paragraph. I don't have to read the rest of the story to ask what kind of
00:28jackass this is that. Suffice it to say the Prime Minister is displeased with
00:34economist Mala Dukeran's assessment of TNT's forex management. But while Ms.
00:39Dukeran is troubled and disappointed by a forex situation, she's possibly even
00:44more so in the Prime Minister's behavior. Resorting to ad hominem attacks and
00:50obscene language is first of all unbecoming of the leadership of any
00:55country and so I'm very disappointed to hear that this is the kind of response
01:00that the Prime Minister of all people would give and I and I continue to hope
01:08for a meaningful, respectful response that shows that this, the leadership of
01:16our country takes their position seriously. The Prime Minister's response
01:21comes after the economist labeled TNT as the world's largest loser of foreign
01:25exchange. As she says over the past 12 years, 2011 to 2023, over 25 billion US
01:33dollars have gone missing from TNT and no one has been able to account for it.
01:38The Prime Minister however is dismissing her account of the situation. It was bad
01:44enough if somebody from the Parliament, opposition had said that because that is
01:49normal for them but when someone who claims to be a professional economist
01:55who pontificates on the monetary and fiscal policies of this country, the
02:00Central Bank operations and our finances could get him or herself quoted like
02:08that, something has to be radically wrong with us. But the PNM stands between you
02:16and that kind of dotishness and it's only when you listen to the PNM you hear
02:23the facts. In that vein, Jikaran is calling on the authorities to come with
02:28the facts to disprove her assessment. I would like to know who is accountable
02:34for addressing this issue. My guess would be the Ministry of Finance, the CSO and
02:43perhaps even Customs, given that they're the ones who measure most of the trade
02:48flows for our country. But I would really appreciate some kind of commentary or
02:55feedback from the authorities that's meaningful and that addresses the data
03:00and the actual problem that exists.
03:02Renessa Cutting, TV6 News.
