FORMER PRIME MINISTER Owen Arthur is calling on the Government to privatise some of its assets to raise money to help reduce its burgeoning debt.
He made the suggestion yesterday to a Government he claimed was “asset rich and cash-strapped” while it faced an “insurmountable debt problem”.
Speaking during the Estimates debate in the House of Assembly, the St Peter Independent MP said Barbados’ looming “financial debacle” could be avoided to some extent by selling certain assets and putting the money from such privatisation into a segregated fund that would stop the current situation where 66 per cent of Government’s revenue was going to pay its expenses.
Zeroing in on the Estimates on the table, the former Barbados Labour Party leader observed the deficit for the next financial year was expected to grow by $2.15 billion, while the debt payment was projected to grow by $2.40 billion. (GC)
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