GOVERNMENT’S FINANCES are in such bad shape, the Freundel Stuart administration needs to bite the bullet and slash its spending now.
It should start by reducing funding to state-owned enterprises and cutting the public sector wages bill, says former Central Bank of Barbados senior economist Stacia Howard.
She made the recommendations while warning that far from being “out of the woods”, Barbados’ economy “is probably in one of its most dangerous phases since the downturn began back in 2009”.
Howard said making the spending cuts would “create some breathing room and raise confidence” in the short term. She favoured this being done within the framework of a reinvigorated Social Partnership, although she noted that “the devil is in the details and that’s where all planning discussions start to fall apart”. (SC)
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