PUBLIC SERVANTS WORRIED that another round of mass layoffs was coming have been given some comfort by Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler.
As Government moves swiftly to plug a $170 million deficit by end of the financial year in March, Sinckler told the media yesterday that the administration would use a combination of expenditure cuts and revenue-raising measures.
Asked directly if more taxes were on the way in the yet to be announced 2014 Budget, he said: “I don’t know the answer to that right now.”
He told a Press briefing at Government Headquarters on Bay Street: “What I can tell you is that it is not our contemplation now to bring increases in taxes. We may be looking at the short to medium term to widen the base and reduce some of the . . . tax on Barbadians. That is our goal but we have a fiscal programme in place and we want to achieve certain targets.”
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