Business
Barbados: Stuart administration reveals that economic adjustments will not be easy
The Freundel Stuart administration in Barbados, has urged citizens to “band together” as it seeks to implement a raft of policies, including job cuts and a reduction in public expenditure in a bid to reviving an ailing economy.
The island-nations’ Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Chris Sinckler told a news conference that the adjustment process was never ever going to be easy and the administration does not pretend that it was going to be a “painless process”.
But he promised Barbadians that “if we believe we can turn the situation around we will,” urging them to “work harder, smarter and together” in reviving the economy.
“Your government is committed to succeeding and turning around this economy we will not be distracted. Let us band together as a strong and resilience people, working together to make our country better, taking the tough decisions that we have to but implementing the decisions that we know will bring years of lasting growth and development”.
Late last month, Sinckler announced the plan by the Stuart administration to slash public service jobs in a bid to save BDS$143 million (US$71.5 million).
He revealed that the administration would also institute a “strict program of attrition” across the central public service, filling posts only where it is absolutely unavoidable, over the next 5 years, ending 2018-2019.
“This attrition is expected to reduce central government employment levels from approximately 16 970 to 14, 612 jobs – a projected loss of 2 358 posts; and savings of BDS$121 million (US$60.5 million). Over the current 19-month adjustment period public sector employment will be reduced by an additional 501 jobs with a projected savings of BDS$26 million (US$13 million),” said Sinckler.
The National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), which represents the majority of the 28,000 public servants, has accused the administration of already retrenching workers through technical maneuvers.
The government said it intends to trim the service by 3,000 jobs starting from January 15.
Sinckler told reporters that the government had already undertaken a number of measures to increase revenue “and we are of the view that more taxation will not be part of the solution at this point in time. “The analysis that we have undertaken makes it clear that government expenditure needs to be reduced by a further BDS$143 million (US$71.5 million) at the minimum over the full financial year and meeting this target would mean an inevitable, unfortunate though it may be, an inescapable loss of jobs in the public sector”. -(CMC)