BARBADIANS MIGHT have to tighten their belts further after Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler delivers the Budget this month.
While making it clear that it was up to Sinckler and Government to enunciate the specific policies, Acting Governor of the Central Bank, Cleviston Haynes, yesterday underscored the need to urgently reduce the fiscal deficit and “dampen” the demand for foreign exchange.
However, the economist, who was speaking at the first press conference on the economy that the bank has held since 2014, appeared to rule out the need for Barbados to seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), warning that this was not “a panacea”.
Haynes, who has been acting in the top post since his predecessor Dr DeLisle Worrell’s dismissal in February, told the media: “The immediate priority is that we have to cut the fiscal deficit. The options for so doing are left to the minister to determine in terms of his mix of revenue and expenditure measures. (SC)
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