Bajans have gotten not only warnings, but assurances from Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley as she laid the Appropriation Bill in the Lower House for the fiscal period 2024-2025.
Mottley asserted, “I hear you, I see you, and I feel you… But I have come here today to let you know Barbados is moving upward and onward… This is not about fiscal arithmetic.”
Scheduled for 3:00 pm, the Budget commenced at 3:18 pm.
Here are the early takeaways from today’s Budget:
No new taxesRate changes will come throughout 2024-2025Debt is lower. “Barbados’ debt is not galloping out of control. The debt to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) ratio is not precarious. This Barbados Labour Party has not increased the national debt to unmanageable levels. In fact, the national debt is now lower than when we came to office in 2018. I can spell the word, L-O-W-E-R!”Government remains fixed to reduce debt down to 60 per cent by 2035 or “if we negotiate with our international partners, by a soon date thereafter.”After years of downgrades, this economy is now growing and is expected to grow four per cent this year. “We have had 11 consecutive quarters of growth… It is amazing.”Unemployment rate declines. “It is back down to about eight per cent.””Though we have done well, I believe in my heart of hearts that we can do better.”Reserves higher than they ever were.Over the course of this time, this government has put in the debt exemplary natural disaster clauses. “We are by far the largest issuer of commercial paper with natural disaster clauses. And I remind us that if the worse, let me knock some wood all ’bout hay, if the worse is to happen to us that it will immediately unlock 19 per cent of GDP over two years, almost $2Billion because we recognise that so many of our people are uninsured and underinsured.” This is the point Barbados’ government has been stressing on global stages with the Bridgetown Initiative. Economic outlook “remains optimistic”.
