Dec 2014 Financial News

Sinckler: Budget to come next April (Barbados)

Dec 17, 2014

BARBADIANS will have to wait just a little longer to hear Government’s Financial Statement and Budgetary Proposals. Finance and Economic Affairs Minister, Christopher Sinckler, yesterday told the House of Assembly that he intends to present the Budget in April 2015, once Government’s 19-month stabilisation programme comes to an end.

This move, he said, would allow his Ministry to give a more detailed account of that programme and its outcomes. As such, he said yesterday’s Ministerial Statement to the Lower House was an interim measure, and while he was not delivering a budget, it provided the opportunity to give the country an update on the current status of the programme, providing more recent economic figures, the road map to achieve the fiscal targets that have been set, and existing prospects for economic growth and reform next year.

Sinckler indicated that while it was his original intention to bring a Budget this month, and his ministry, along with the other ministries, were preparing for that, following the first round of consultations with partners and a complete analysis of the existing situation in the stabilisation programme, Cabinet accepted the advice of his Ministry to defer the presentation of the Budget until after the end of the programme in March next year, so that they could better prepare.

He further explained that the decision will allow his Ministry and its strategic agencies and partners to “more properly consult” on key policy initiatives that will impact on critical aspects of the country’s economic, financial and social care sectors, and the Government’s efforts for fiscal consolidation and growth.

“This will be particularly necessary in carrying out the appropriate level of impact analyses of required reforms in our tax policy, investment grid, and social services financing models. These are all critical aspects of our socio-economic system, and must of necessity be accorded such a generous enough examination, as presenting the Budget statement this month would not allow,” he explained.

The Finance Minister further told the Lower House that the decision to defer the Budget would allow the Government to do a comprehensive review of the 19-month stabilisation programme, and by extension allow for any critical adjustments that need to be made going forward. (JRT)

Source:
Barbados Advocate
Wednesday December 17, 2014

http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/newsitem.asp?more=local&NewsID=40535