What are people saying about the budget?

The 2022/2023 fiscal package has been the talk of T&T since it was presented on September 26th. With government expenditure estimated at $57.685 billion, Finance Minister Colm Imbert purported this year’s budget entitled “Tenacity and Stability in the Face of Global Challenges” to be full of relief for citizens while seeking to improve the current state of the economy.

Needless to say, the Opposition, stakeholder groups and the general public have been weighing in on this discussion over the last week. But with many outlets for conversation ranging from print editorials and televised post-budget panels to various social media platforms, how can we truly grasp the overall attitude of the responses?

Using our media monitoring services, particularly Social Listening, Media InSite has been able to track the Sentiment related to mentions of the national budget. All media mentions can be categorized by Sentiment, whether it’s positive, neutral or negative. Here’s what T&T had to say about the budget’s major highlights.

Positive Mentions

This year’s budget, like many others before it, is a deficit budget with revenue estimated at $56.175 billion and expenditure at $57.685 billion. However, the Bankers Association of Trinidad and Tobago is among the many stakeholders focusing on the bright side of things, as it commended the government for its efforts to reduce the deficit with this budget.

Azim Bassarath, President of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board, was another with high praises for the government as $541,962,000 was allocated toward sports.

Positive mentions, like these, are an effective way of highlighting your brand is getting right. These mentions include sponsorships, profits, awards, prizes, CSR initiatives and increased stock prices.

Neutral Mentions