Business
Reducing fiscal deficit major challenge facing Barbados economy – Prime Minister Stuart
He pointed out that although revenues had been falling, the demand for Government to maintain the social safety net had been heightened.
“Government has not been able to ignore these demands because that social safety net is, in large measure, responsible for the relative peace and stability which we enjoy and which has made Barbados continually attractive to foreign investors and visitors,” he added.
Stuart said that it was the combination of these factors that has led to a fiscal deficit that was higher than the government would have liked it to be, even though it was largely incurred in the interest of social and economic stability.
“As a result, government debt has risen sharply both in absolute terms and as a percentage of GDP. This has meant higher debt service expenditure both in absolute terms and as a percentage of declining government revenues. Government has been able to hold other expenditure reasonably stable over the last five years, and has tried as far as possible to restrict increase in expenditure.” (CMC)
