The measures proposedlast Tuesday in the House of Assembly will make very little impact on Barbados’ current fiscal circumstances.
Indeed, unless some miracle manifests itself over the next six months, or Government makes painful inroads into public sector wages and certain subsidies to reduce its overall spending, the 2011 Budget may achieve nothing.
What our leaders in the hallowed halls of Parliament now need to do is put heads together across the wide chasm that separates Government from the Opposition, and formulate the best action plan for Barbados.
Forget the upcoming general election – the people will make their own decisions, anyway – since focusing on votes alone right now could lead to unprecedented suffering and this country having very little to hold onto by 2013.
And while I’m not agreeing that last week’s exercise was “a Budget of nothing”, I have spent the last few days trying to write something from the said Budget for this column and came up with – you guessed it – nothing.
Should I write about the problem affecting nearly every Barbadian household right now: electricity bills?
The energy grant of $5 million through the Welfare Department to assist the elderly and disabled with their bills is a good incentive and shows concern for the vulnerable in our society. But what else can I say about it, especially in terms of how it will or will not reduce the country’s fiscal deficit? Nothing.
What about the fact that the first $190 000 of land tax value will be exempted from tax, with the rate of 0.1 per cent to be applied on the next $500 000 in value?
A good move for the middle class who would have lost their entertainment and travel allowances in the past year and would now get a bit of a land tax ease; but again what else can be said regarding its ability to help turn the economy around? Nothing.
Government’s attention to the cultural industries pleases me greatly, since it is an area I’ve worked in as a journalist since August 1995. And I have heard similar promises and ideas expressed about what was then known as “entertainment and the arts” but later evolved into “industries” – even though no real business emerged from the many workshops, seminars and expensive trips to MIDEM.
Ideas to support artistes in various genres are therefore not new; what is new is implementation.
So that, by next year musicians, artists, designers and chefs should be able to borrow from a $50 million fund over five years to promote, market and distribute their products, but will this incentive pump any foreign exchange into the economy any time soon? No.
The waiver of duties on music studio equipment follows on the heels of import duties being waived on musical instruments, and should also be commended; but I’m hesitant to laud the arts and cultural centre, which had been promised for years – including plans for it in the still-to-be-renovated Empire Theatre.
Will cultural industry practitioners have to wait in vain for the newly promised centre at Spring Garden as well?
Will it get permission from Town Planning? Will musicians be lamenting in the next decade that – like the visual artists waiting for years for a national art gallery – they still have nothing? Time will tell.
I’m also not optimistic about any commitment by the radio stations to play 60 per cent local music. And while it would be interesting to hear now from station bosses what they feel about the call for support of Barbadian music, I can almost visualize their excuses within the next three months as they sing the praises of American hip hop, Jamaican reggae and dancehall and Trini soca and decry the “local standard of production”.
How could Nexcyx not be good enough to play at prime time, but Pink, Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas could ride the airwaves all day, thereby exporting millions in royalties, especially during a prolonged economic recession? I therefore expect nothing.
The fillip for the motoring sector via the upgrade and lease of Bushy Park should do wonders for tourism, since motoring, an extremely popular spectator sport, can create regional and international links.
But this is also a long-term measure.
Overall therefore, last week’s Financial Statement and Budgetary Proposals had a heavy dose of incentives geared toward the future, and the obvious attempt by the Government to focus on new economic frontiers like the cultural industries and sports tourism must be commended – but what can be done about Barbados’ situation now? Nothing!
