Economist warns about secondary impacts of COVID

(Trinidad Guardian) Although T&T’s budget deficit is expected to triple, moving from $5 billion to $15 billion, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the more important facts to consider are the secondary impacts that are incurred due to the virus.

This is the contention of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Economics lecturer Dr Marlene Attzs.

During a Virtual Symposium hosted by UWI, Attzs said: “The challenge is not simply direct economic costs but more so the need to unearth the secondary, indirect impacts for this pandemic to gain a full understanding of its effects so that appropriate policy responses can be crafted.”

Attzs highlighted that the country would be impacted as global supply chains are disrupted because the country imports an average of 50 per cent from the United States, China and Europe.

The economist also highlighted that the health sector would have been impacted as well, as the country would have had to spend significant expenditures to fund additional debt. Although Attzs disclosed that the debt that the country would incur is not sustainable, she indicated that T&T is facing an unprecedented situation that would take more spending than usual to address problems that arise.

Read more at: Trinidad Guardian

Source: CARICOM TODAY