BAHAMAS WOULD FACE ‘DISASTER’ WITHOUT MAJOR DEFICIT REDUCTION

By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

A GOVERNANCE reformer yesterday hailed the Government’s 20232024 Budget as correct for the times since The Bahamas would be facing “disaster” without a major cut to the annual fiscal deficit.

Hubert Edwards

Hubert Edwards, the Organisation for Responsible Governance’s (ORG) economic development committee head, told the Rotary Club of West Nassau that while the Budget is “imperfect” it pledges to deliver an almost-75 percent year-over-year slash to the deficit.

The latter measures the difference between how much the Government spends and what it earns, in terms of taxes and other revenue income, with the gap having to be filled by borrowing that adds to the near-$11.5bn national deficit. For 2023-2024, the deficit is forecast to shrink to $131.1m compared to $520.6m that was projected for the just-closed 20222023 fiscal year.

Mr Edwards, noting that the Davis administration has set a trajectory where it is seeking to first reduce, then eliminate, the deficit and generate a Budget surplus, said: “The 202324 Budget is, in my view, an imperfect one. But, in macro terms, it’s the Budget which is needed for this