THIS country is in a deep fiscal hole according to economist Clyde Mascoll, who says the opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) is not satisfied that the drastic measures being taken to cut Government expenditure by $400 million are consistent with achieving economic growth.
Mascoll’s comments come in the wake of the acknowledgement by the Central Bank that the economy is continuing to decline and foreign reserves are falling.
The BLP adviser on the economy told the DAILY?NATION that the country’s foreign reserves were still enough to protect the country’s currency – four weeks above the international standard of 12 weeks – but the issue was about the ways that must be found to finance Government’s “excessive” spending.
Mascoll said it was important that Barbados got access to foreign financing that was identified in the Estimates.
“Government has gone to the foreign market to borrow $350 million and if this comes in, it becomes foreign exchange that can be used to do some projects,”?he said. (MK)
