‘Help the country’

Too little foreign exchange is remaining in this country.

This was the cry of Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Chris Sinckler, as he led off debate on the Appropriations Bill (2017) yesterday in the House of Assembly.

He stressed that there must be a decomposition on the tourism sector to see how money is earned, where it came from, the methods of payment, how much gets to Barbados and how much remains outside.

“These things need to be analysed because we cannot take it for granted any longer that because we have record visitor arrivals, increased value added (and) increased spend that it is going to translate into a wash of foreign reserves in the Central Bank. That is not how the market works anymore,” he insisted.

Speaking on the concessions given by successive governments to various entities to push growth within their respective sectors, he expressed his belief that the returns gained were not enough, and steps must be taken to address this.

“I believe that the bulk of the foreign exchange being earned is not making it into the system and needs to make it into the system and if there are vast amounts being held outside of Barbados, we don’t want you to bring all, but bring a little bit more. Help the country out,” he asserted.

Sinckler also pointed out that over successive administrations the island had borrowed more foreign exchange than it had earned – an action that was unsustainable.

“We have to earn your way, you can’t expect a country to continue to keep borrowing foreign exchange to build up reserves when it is clearly proving to be a difficulty and will continue to be a difficulty for future generations,” he stated.

The Finance Minister insisted that government had been making tough decisions since 2008 and was prepared to continue to make them, but would not do so at the risk of hurting the society.

“We will make no stupid decisions, just to hold up a ledger and showcase numbers on a page that look like they balance the economic turn sheet, while concealing grave imbalances and social injustices on the social balance sheet,” he stressed.

He also urged for politics to take a back seat and called for a responsible national conversation on the fiscal and foreign exchange challenges currently affecting the island.

“We are Barbados, and Barbados never fails,” he stressed. (JMB)