Government has a $1.4 billion problem that is threatening to “erode” recently reported fiscal gains.
International credit rating agency Moody’s warned that this large expenditure on transfers and subsidies and interest payments alone between April and December, was a clear sign Government’s fiscal problems “are likely to persist”.
In its latest credit opinion on Barbados released yesterday, Moody’s estimated Barbados’ interest payments would surpass a quarter of Government’s revenues in the current financial year. Moody’s pointed out this would be “one of the highest interest burdens in our rated universe”.
With Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler expected to lay the 2018/2019 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure in the House of Assembly this morning, Moody’s cautioned that “limited emphasis on expenditure controls and a growing interest burden will erode a portion of the revenue gains”.
Last week during his 2017 economic review, Central Bank Governor Cleviston Haynes reported that the fiscal deficit fell by $197 million between April and December. (SC)
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