🗳️ McTaggart begins campaign with focus on economy

Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart, ten months ahead of the expected start of the 2025 election campaign, has begun his campaign with a focus on the economy. McTaggart, who was finance minister during the last PPM administration, claimed that his party had successfully managed the economy when in office and criticised the current administration’s efforts. He said that under the UPM/PACT government, public debt has doubled and unemployment has grown, which has happened during an inflation crisis and a decline in living standards. 📈

McTaggart criticised the current administration, led by Wayne Panton and now Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, for increasing the debt burden from under $250 million to around $500 million. However, the public debt is still well within the range permitted in the Public Management and Finance Law, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 7.3%, well under the 10% limit. He claimed that when the Progressives were in office, they used surpluses to invest in infrastructure and reduced the public debt. McTaggart is now asking the government whether it will cut spending on social programs or increase fees and taxes to meet the debt burden. 💰

McTaggart urged voters to choose at the next election a new Progressives government that prioritises responsible financial management and the welfare of Caymanians. He said that the Progressives had taken a compassionate and sensible approach to the management of the pandemic. However, some of the most pressing problems in Cayman that led voters to oust the PPM have not gone away and have been compounded in the post-pandemic world: overdevelopment, the loss of local access to the natural world, especially the coastline and beaches, the rapid uncontrolled population rise, and the gentrification of traditional neighborhoods by the rich elite. 🏦