Attorney General Wilfred Abrahams has warned Barbadians to brace for “very difficult times” as global geopolitical instability threatens the local economy.
Speaking in the House of Assembly during the Budget debate yesterday, the MP for Christ Church East described the financial package presented by Minister of Finance Ryan Straughn as probably “one of the most critical and challenging Budgets” ever prepared. He noted that the Government entered the recent General Election with a strong economic record and costed promises, but the landscape shifted dramatically due to unforeseen global events, including regime change in Venezuela and the outbreak of war in the Middle East.
“The world as we know it is different from what it was this time last week,” Abrahams said.
He highlighted that the Minister of Finance adopted a staged approach to relief, implementing measures such as the fuel cap and VAT adjustments for an initial three-month period to allow for reassessment as global events unfold.
“Nobody can say it was not an imaginative Budget,” Abrahams said, noting that major accounting firms and other political parties had acknowledged Government’s efforts to deliver relief despite constrained circumstances.
Addressing criticism that the Government had not done enough for the middle class, Abrahams pointed to a track record of reducing income tax rates over the past seven years. He noted that the basic rate had dropped from 16.5 per cent in 2018 to 11.5 per cent, with the top rate falling from 33.5 per cent to 27.5 per cent.
He argued that savings at the pump and reduced property tax thresholds, combined with income tax cuts, provided tangible benefits.
Turning to his portfolio, the Attorney General welcomed the removal of taxes on surveillance equipment for households and farmers. He lashed out at those involved in praedial larceny, stating that it discourages food security and must be treated as serious criminal conduct.
“Praedial larceny is thieving,” Abrahams said. “It is an emboldening thing that says we don’t respect the laws of Barbados… We cannot be disincentivising farmers by not prosecuting people for praedial larceny.”
He also called for mandatory GPS and dashboard cameras in public service vehicles (PSVs). While the Budget encourages the use of dash cams, Abrahams argued that the PSV sector requires stricter regulation to ensure passenger safety and accountability.
