BUSINESS MONDAY - ESTIMATES TO BE LAID TODAY

BARBADIANS are expected to follow with keen interest events in the House of Assembly starting from today. That’s when Government introduces the Appropriations Bill 2019/2020 that outlines it revenue and expenditure programme for the forthcoming financial year.

Also known as the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, the programme will be revealed in the context of the economic recovery programme which the Government has put in place since last year.
Government said it is aiming for a surplus next year while introducing the document.

Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley is expected to be the Government’s principal presenter of the Estimates.

While recent assessments suggest that some progress has already been made, those analysing the Barbados economic recovery – the Central Bank of Barbados, Caribbean Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund say that a lot more work needs to be done.

It is expected that emphasis this year will be placed on reforming the country’s State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). The allocations for the SOEs are contained in lumped together under the head Transfers. However, according to the Estimates, transfers have been slashed to $603.0 million for the coming fiscal year which starts on April 1. One official has told Business Monday that this could mean reduced financial flows to a number of the SOEs especially the Transport Board.

To date more than one thousand public officers have been laid and it is expected that with a tightened programme, more could be put on the breadline.

Approved Estimates for the current financial year which ends March 31, had shown Transfers at $777.8 million.

Government has said that the Estimates for the next year project current revenue at $3.14 billion, on the accrual basis and $3.01 billion or some 7.2 per cent above the Revised Estimates.

Expenditure for the coming year is projected at $3.18 billion, a decrease of 29.7 per cent below the approved amount of total expenditure for 2018/2019.

It said that on the accrual basis the net operating balance is $541.0 million 5.0 per cent of GDP. The overall fiscal deficit on the Accountant General basis is projected at $66.4 million or 0.6 per cent of nominal GDP at market prices and estimated at $10 773.1 million.

“When converted to the International Financial Institutions’ basis, the fiscal surplus is projected at $325.1 million or 3.0 per cent of GDP,” it added.