Mascoll’s say on Budget today

If Government’s Budget today bears any resemblance to some of the proposals prepared for the Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA) by economist Lindsay Holder, it will be akin to a tsunami hitting Barbados, says former Government minister Clyde Mascoll.
Speaking Sunday night at a Christ Church West branch meeting at the Garrison Secondary School, the economist queried why a private sector body would hire a consultant to help Government correct a fiscal imbalance. He suggested a private sector body would instead hire someone to get concessions or to get an ease in taxation “here and there”.
“If [Minister of Finance Chris] Sinckler wanted to know how to create a fiscal imbalance he could have hired the same Lindsay [Holder]. He did a lot of work for the last administration. So why would a private sector body be hired to inform the Government how to reduce the fiscal imbalance which means imposing taxes, stabilisation tax, cutting this, cutting that, compromising their business, undermining the health of the business sector. Something strikes me as wrong,” he said.
Mascoll suggested if Government came today with increased taxation it could always say that it was on the recommendation of the private sector. He added that what was going on seemed more like psychology than economics.
Full story in Monday’s DAILY NATION