MINISTER?OF?Finance Chris Sinckler says the Government shares the pain of ordinary Barbadians over the rising cost of living, but admits there is little it can do to ease the squeeze at this time.
He said while Government would like to take action, it had “little elbow room” to manoeuvre, given the fiscal position the country was still in.
“We have a team looking at it, and at how we can produce some level of mitigation,” he told the SUNDAY SUN last Thursday. As such, he can give no precise time when the Government will be able to ease the day-to-day escalating costs Barbadians face.
“To be honest with you, it is very difficult for me to give a specific date. What I can say is that the Government continues to look for ways. I have my team currently working to see how we can effect some adjustments to ensure that Barbadians can have an ease. But it is difficult to say a date,” Sinckler admitted.
The minister conceded that the Government was earning more than it had projected from increasing the excise tax on gasoline, due to the price hikes on that commodity so far this year. But he said cutting this tax as a way to reduce prices at the pump, would have to be examined within the context of Government’s overall revenue take.
Sinckler explained that though the Government was earning more than projected from the excise, it was getting less than anticipated from other measures.
He dismissed the idea of a subsidy on fuel prices as a way of minimizing the impact on householders and businesses, saying when this was done by the Owen Arthur regime it ran up an $80 million debt which is still being cleared off. He argued that in any case, if prices didn’t stabilize, the debt from such a subsidy could become “a problem”, and then the same people it was put in place to help would have to be taxed further to pay it off.
That was the bad news.
The good news from Sinckler was that the economy was improving and if this growth could be maintained, “Government can look at areas where some ease can be given without jeopardizing” the progress achieved.
“We are on target to meet our objectives, and once we do this period of austerity – this period of pause, so to speak – then things are corrected, then we can get back to our normal levels of spending, our normal levels of engagement, in terms of the economy – and things will pick back up,” Sinckler said.
“My message for Barbadians is [that] we are making progress; we are getting there. The economy is going in the right direction, but we still have issues. We have not arrived at that place yet where we can safely say we’re out of the woods.
“Therefore, we would urge Barbadians to remain focused. Yes, it’s painful; but Government is going to walk with you through this process.”
