Most Barbadians are hoping for one thing to come out of today’s Budget presentation by the country’s leader Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley – an ease financially, one way of the other.
everything up and my pay pack ain’t saying nain. That’s de truth
In as many ways as possible, Bajans in The City told Loop News that they want to see a decline in the cost of living and an improvement in their way of life.
Jeffrey ‘Boots’ said, “I want to hear inflation and cost of living going down. Things a bit too pricey nowadays.”
Shanice, a mother of two – a one-year old and a seven-year-old, said, “I want to hear a raise of pay. I tired with this. Lord, boy, everything up and my pay pack ain’t saying nain. That’s de truth, it ain’t saying nothing at all at all. But wuh yuh gotta do is mek it stretch.”
I’m worried about how she’s going to pay it back and what taxes or measures
Rommel said, “I want the small man to get nuff contracts, that’s all. So I can get some work.” Others chilling nearby in Marhill Street agreed that they want to get work. Another man who preferred to remain anonymous said, “I don’t really check for that but I wanna work. I ain’t getting no work. I would do anything but I really would like to get into landscaping.” Another said, “ I just wanna hear more money.”
You get promises and you don’t get nothing
De Donut Man told Loop News, he is concerned about the country’s loans, and he believes he’s not alone on this front.
“The amount of borrowing this prime minister has been doing, I think that everybody should be worried about how we gonna close that fiscal gap. Every minute you wake you up you see loans, so I’m worried about how she’s going to pay it back and what taxes or measures or policies she’s going to put in place to pay it back. How will it affect the average man? That is basically what I’m concerned about.
“You borrow money, you have to pay it back. And I think the average person worries with the amount of borrowing, how we gonna pay it back.
“And if you are going to pay it back, there’s only two ways to pay it back – taxes or create incentives to create investments, and I ain’t see that happening at all.
“We gotta worried about the taxes that gonna be imposed and that gonna be detrimental to the economy because it will reduce spending power and then we’ll go back in the same cycle again – reduced sales, reduced revenue and we back to square one.”
Another gentleman said, “I want to basically see an ease in certain things, but yuh still gotta live.”
On the flip side, some were unbothered, while about half had no clue, today is Budget Day. Some of these men and women in the environs of the Parliament buildings shared:
“I didn’t even know the Budget is today.”
“Nothing so don’t catch me.”
“I gonna see and read what happens, I have bigger problems at the moment.”
“I don’t even listen to the Budget. You get promises and you don’t get nothing.”
“All what she do, she do, we can’t change it.”
Today, Monday, March 18, 2024, is Budget Day for Barbados.
