The 2016 fiscal package was fairly predictable. Efforts to rein in spending, balanced with the needs of ordinary citizens amid economic uncertainty seem a dominant thread.
Budgets in T&T are typically focused on "sharing the pie" rather than giving folks ingredients to make their own.
While there were references to "maximising the potential of the creative and tourism sectors," we aren't virgins to such seductive prose.
Without clear enunciation of policies and concrete initiatives, no government should expect such promises to be treated with anything other than scepticism.
To be fair, the new administration doesn't have an easy job of it. Juggling the varied demands of the population with the realities of depressed oil pricing and dramatically diminished revenue streams is no cake walk.
The increases in diesel fuel and super gasoline were more modest than we deserve. The savings in annual fuel subsidies may seem minor, but it continues the unavoidable process of subsidy reduction.
So with a concerted focus on trimming the fat, the budget seems to have earned the Government modest applause from the public...that in itself is an achievement. Elections promises appealing to every Eddie Punch-clock and Sally Housecoat appear to have been honoured.
I am more concerned with what was not said than what was in Mr Imbert's presentation. While I appreciate that this is a "holding" budget, there are important considerations which the public should mull over.
This country must both batten down the hatches and aggressively access alternative sources of foreign exchange. We are out of time, we should already be some way down the diversification path. This is why my columns (the manifesto series and many before it) focus on finding viable solutions to our oil dependency.
Fossil fuels, in the long-term, will not continue to fund our imaginary economy. So we must earn more foreign revenue from sustainable markets, but what are we really sellin' to the outside world? Ok, a budget presentation isn't chapter and verse of a government's vision. Mr Imbert did reference, though, a ship-building industry and financial services sector; mothballed components of the government's diversification ideology.
Nothing is wrong with these ideas, but there are faster routes to diversification using available resources.
Tourism
The government can immediately leverage the environment to make us more competitive in a cluttered global tourism market. With comparatively minimal expenditure on maintenance and policing of established nature reserves, we can ensure there's a product to sell to the growing eco-tourism market.
Eco-tourism initiatives championed by the communities of Grande Riviere and Matura are excellent examples of ordinary folk using a local resource (leatherback turtles) to build sustainable small enterprises.
From my reading of it, the National Wildlife Policy has been in place since 2013. The draft Forestry, Protected Areas and Wildlife Conservation Bill of 2014 was going through a process of review when the change of administration occurred. It is important that the Government see this process through to completion so that we have updated legislation to protect our natural heritage. This is critical to the conservation of a valuable commodity that can earn us foreign exchange.
There other opportunities that can sprout returns in the now.
Agriculture
While some have sneered derisively at the comparatively paltry allocation to the Ministry of Agriculture, I agree with Minister Clarence Rambharat that conscientiously applied use of these funds can get the job done.
What we need is an industry focused on agri-business. It's one of those buzz words after which the term "lip service" was probably coined.
There's constant chatter about reduction of the food import bill but we haven't done enough to, not only boost food security, but produce for export. I've said it before but it bears repeating. Pumpkin, baigan, pimento peppers and ochro are not the makings of a well-rounded agri-sector (or diet for that matter).
Many young people are getting into organic farming today. This local pesticide-free produce is available in speciality stores. With incentivisation and assistance from the Ministries of Agriculture and Trade, entrepreneurs can grow their businesses by minimising risk through assured destinations at home and abroad for their produce.
I have seen the promise of a greenhouse farming pilot project undertaken by energy giant Repsol. This incarnation of green house agriculture affords the farmer higher yields, using less pesticides. This method also provides relief from the vicissitudes of today's climate. Perhaps the most attractive element of Repsol's project was that it involved negotiated relationships with food chains to purchase the farmers' produce, thereby, squeezing out the middle man and putting more profit in the pockets of the entrepreneur/farmer.
Just these two examples of eco-tourism and agriculture demonstrate the potential for citizens to create their own, better-paying jobs using available resources.
There are already many risk-takers who have invested in eco-tourism operations and small agribusinesses. The government should follow with the proper framework to lift these sectors and, in particular, illuminate agriculture, as the noble profession that it is.
We may be out of time, but we are certainly not out of ideas. Fiscal policy can no longer ignore the urgency of the age.