economy's performance, the Opposition finance critic charged last night.

Mr. Eugene Cox criticised Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul for shifting measurements on economic expectations and for failing to tell Bermudians just how bad things really are.

"Government should be up front with the people,'' he said. "The information they're putting out is not validated by results.'' He charged that the establishment of task forces addressing economic issues were merely a smokescreen fostering false impressions of concrete action taking place.

"The task force is just another move to stall and not give the people the facts and figures,'' he said. "The task force is no panacea for the economy.

I think Government is trying to mislead and befuddle the people of this country.'' Mr. Cox made the statement following release of Government statistics showing the economic to be performing at historically low levels.

For the first three months of the year, visitor air arrivals were down 17.5 percent compared to the same period in 1991 -- when the world was paralysed by Gulf War jitters and the onset of recession.

The quarterly results showed air visitor spending down a whopping 21.4 percent and retail sales down 5.7 percent in all sectors but liquor stores.

Mr. Cox was particularly concerned with Dr. Saul's pronouncements on the economy.

"A month ago, he was saying things are looking up. Now with these new figures he's saying we'll have to look at the next two quarters to see how we'll do.

He seems to be moving the goalposts.

"The fact is we're not recovering as said. The numbers are down substantially. Instead of Government offering leadership and reporting the situation honestly, we get shifting goalposts where we're told to look farther into the future.'' Mr. Cox said: "This is a serious time for serious personal deliberations on how people manage their resources. We're going to have to exercise thrift and minimise consumption.'' The Finance critic's comments were made after Government released the latest consumer price index figures showing inflation to the end of April at a low 2.6 percent.

The rate was marginally below the annual rate of 2.7 percent set in March.

Dr. Saul, who could not be reached for comments on Mr. Cox's statement, said the figures were in step with Government predictions that the annual rate would remain below three percent for the next six months or more before rising slightly next year.

One Government official yesterday said Bermuda's economy continued to be affected by recession, particularly in its effects on a segment of the US population the Island generally targets for tourism.

The spotty recovery in the US economy is occurring in sectors such as manufacturing which employs people who are not Bermuda's high-income earner targets, he said.

Bermuda visitors were more from the service sector which continues in recession.

"I think we'll see a weak recovery in tourist arrivals this year,'' the official said. "From April 1 to May 31 air arrivals increased two percent over last year. It's not a big number but the trend is positive and one that we might see continue through the summer.''