STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES (SOEs) will be feeling the pinch as Government seeks to haul in its spending this year.
The effort to slash expenditure is also expected to result in increased user fees, including bus fares, but the authorities are hoping to cushion some of the blow by increasing funds spent on social programmes.
That indication came in the 2019-2020 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, which will be debated in the House of Assembly from today, and in agreements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation programme.
In Government’s new budget, which takes effect April 1, the projection is for $3.14 billion in revenue, and expenditure of $3.18 billion, which leaves a fiscal deficit of $32.3 million.
The summary of Government operations and financing for 2019-2020 shows a big funding cut is in store for SOEs, several of which have already sent home workers.
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