It's been over a month since the G-7 went back into the cabinet. Since then, many in the public have told us that the seven sold out by lapping their tails between their legs and sloping back into a cabinet where the man who they set out to unseat, Ralph Fonseca still held significant, if no longer magisterial, sway. Well, today Fonseca confirmed to us that though he's no longer "the man", he still has digs on everything that goes on in the ministry of finance. We air those remarks, followed by a comment given yesterday by Tourism Minister Mark Espat:
Hon. Ralph Fonseca - Former Minister of Finance
"It' doesn't do anything to me that I am not minister of finance when no decision can be made in the ministry of finance without my knowing. I'm a part, I'm still a part of the ministry of finance and I think since things have settled down there's a much better discourse and I think other parties now understand how difficult it is to run the ministry of finance."
"I'm still very much involved in finance and spend quite a bit of time with the two ministers of state and the other members of the committee like Francis Fonseca and we are doing things together to make sure that there is no mistrust and to make sure that everybody is looking at the same figures that many people said before only I was looking at. That's made it a lot more comfortable for me."
"I just keep moving things forward. I don't see any drastic change from the direction that I was adding to move this country forward. We are actually moving in exactly the same direction it's just that more people are involved now so there is less distrust and there is a better feeling of collective responsibility."
Hon. Mark Espat - Minister of State in Ministry
"It is common knowledge that the seven ministers accepted the prime minister's invitation to go back into cabinet because we have taken him at his word that the proposals for reform as he laid out on August the 12th I believe when he put forth the nine points of reform; as it relates to Social Security, as it relates to DFC, as it relates to the debt, as it relates to a medium and long term plan to manage the fiscal deficit and to contain the debt, as it relates to the credibility of the Central Bank. Those are all things that are critical for us and we made a commitment as a group and to our constituents that we would accept the appointment in cabinet and that we would work diligently to ensure that these points of reform are delivered upon."
"I believe that we are doing the right thing. The prime minister has said repeatedly that our country faces serious challenges and all of us have to be part of the solution and that was our intention on August the 12th. It was our intention before that and certainly it is our intention now, speaking for myself, to be a part of that solution.
Jules Vasquez
"Do you harbor any resentment? You said: ‘that if you cut me I bleed.' Do you have any resentment for those who, it is perceived, to have plotted against you? Specifically the G-7 to have plotted against you and not confronted you personally about it."
Hon. Ralph Fonseca
"Well they certainly did not confront me personally about it and now I don't harbor any resentment we can't afford that in this business. I have never had that kind of personality. I don't think that anybody could ever accuse me of that."
And while Fonseca says he harbors no resentment, by nature, any political animal, proud as he or she is, must bristle when the new team renounces and indicts the old team. That's what it's been like for Fonseca who's had a ringside seat as a new set of players have taken over the finances that he controlled for 6 years. And not only have they taken over, they've publicly charted a new, austere approach, indicating that past measures would not have been sufficient to avert a now looming crisis. But today Fonseca flatly rejected that interpretation; he said the new deal is a lot like the old deal, even if the numbers are dancing just a little:
Jules Vasquez
"The Prime Minister conceded last night in an interview that the overall deficit is at 5,6 or 7 percent of GDP. That's the number he said. You said in your budget presentation that it was 3 point 1 percent. Is this now, and the strategy to bring down the deficit, is this now an indictment of what you said? Is it saying that your statement of just over 3 percent was false?
Hon Ralph Fonseca
"No I'm not sure that the Prime Minister said that."
Hon Said Musa – Prime Minister
"It's part of our reducing the fiscal deficit. We are working towards bringing down the fiscal deficit to within 3 percent of GDP…"
Alfonso Noble
"How much is it at?"
Hon. Said Musa
"It's difficult to say right now but it might be 5, 6 percent at the present time, aiming for 7."
Hon. Ralph Fonseca
"I don't think that it's any indictment. I think that what has happened is that we have, we have a team that's working on the budget today that's taking an ultra-conservative view as it relates to revenue and I think they need to do that. I think at the end of the day we will come out around a little less than GDP which is our target as long as everybody does what the said they are going to do."
Jules Vasquez
"I understand Cap. II and Cap. III will be cut down by 35 million and the Prime Minister has said that recurrent will be cut by 5 percent. If you were the minister of finance these things would not be happening and the Prime Minister has says these are very necessary things."
Hon. Ralph Fonseca
"That's not true. Just a while ago you had said the opposite. You had said that I had frozen the entire Cap. II and the entire Cap. III when I was minister of finance."
Jules Vasquez
"You said that."
Hon. Ralph Fonseca
"So how can you say that I would not have cut 30 million dollars out."
"In the case of recurrent we asked that they look at their recurrent budget, and we were talking then about containment of staff, now we are talking about, apart from containment of staff also a 5 percent cut of materials and supplies because what has happened with the fuel prices that affects that budget line so heavily."
And on the subject of cutbacks in recurrent expenditure, 7 News has been reliably informed that initial figures to government indicate that it is a running a recurrent deficit, when a surplus was projected, and, according to figures quoted in the budget by Fonseca, realized.