PRESS Secretary Charles P. Reyes yesterday said it is the federal government that is compounding the CNMI’s economic problems.
“It is very difficult to plan for a successful economic recovery when events are overtaking our planning process as we struggle to survive and maintain a viable economy,” Reyes said, in response to statements made by former Finance Secretary Antonio R. Cabrera.
Cabrera said the administration has no concrete economic plan.
But according to Reyes, the economy started to recover but the federal government approved a minimum wage hike and extended federal immigration law to the islands.
The governor, he added, developed a five-year tourism plan and engaged in extensive deliberations with the local strategic economic development council to plan for economic recovery.
“The governor also highlighted our growing education industry,” he said. “But it is now virtually impossible to plan for economic recovery without knowing the specific federal immigration regulations we would have to abide by under the new federal rules.”
The administration, he added, has “absolutely no assurance that any of its recommendations [to the federal government] would be accommodated.”
He added. “How can the government and many CNMI businesses legitimately plan in the face of such uncertainty from the federal government?”
Reyes said if the CNMI economy does not recover in the short term, it will not be because of the Fitial administration’s failure to plan for economic recovery.
“It will be because of unsound federal policies imposed without objective studies or careful economic considerations, for political reasons,” he said.
