With many people expecting 2012 to be an election year in Barbados, one economist is warning that the country cannot afford the increased spending that usually occurs in the lead-up to voting day.
President of the Barbados Economics Society, Ryan Straughn, said “elections have to be a consideration” when forecasting the country’s economic performance next year.
“Government spending tends to get out of control in the lead-up to an election. It is a norm in the Caribbean [but] we cannot afford that,” he said of the much anticipated polls, which are constitutionally due in the first quarter of 2013.
Straughn noted that while the Democratic Labour Party administration had done relatively well in meeting its revenue targets, its spending continued to be a cause for concern because “for every $1 taken in, approximately $1.50 goes out”.
He said to the best of his knowledge the presentation of this year’s Estimates of Expenditure was the first occasion in which Government approved a deficit of more than $1 billion.
The president said it was not surprising that Moody’s Investors Service, Standard & Poor’s and most recently the International Monetary Fund had all expressed concerns about state expenditure.
Straughn noted that regardless of who wins the next election, “the structure of Government must change” in order to reduce spending.
He said it was necessary to reduce the size of the Civil Service and eliminate duplication since irrespective of how well the economy performs, inefficiencies in Government are standing “in the way of progress”.
