29 Dec 2008

Northern Marianas' official calls for immediate action to combat declining economy

2:33 pm on 29 December 2008

Finance Secretary in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, Eloy Inos, says the CNMI has nothing on the table to cushion the impact of the economic crisis.

In a letter sent to the Governor, Mr Inos recommended tighter budgetary controls on all government agencies.

In the first two months of the current fiscal year - October and November - the government's collections were approximately one point two million US dollars less than estimated.

Mr Inos says in this continuing decline, the CNMI is also challenged by new reports that three of the last four remaining garment manufacturers have either closed operations or will be shutting down within 30 days.

He also highlighted the plans of Northwest Airlines to scrap its Osaka-Saipan route in March 2009.

The Marianas Visitors Authority says this route contributes approximately 112 million dollars to the CNMI economy.