Private sector promises to monitor Govt’s fiscal policy

by Marlon Madden

In the absence of an official Opposition in Parliament, the local business community will not be keeping quiet on matters of economic importance.

This pledge was made on Tuesday by President of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry Anthony Branker, as Chairman of the Barbados Private Sector Association Trisha Tannis raised several questions about areas of the Budget presented on Monday.

“I commit to the Business community and the people of Barbados that the BCCI will be heard on matters of economic Importance.

This meeting this morning and the illustrious panel we have brought together to discuss the Budgetary Proposal is just one step in ensuring that the voice of business in Barbados is heard,” said Branker.

He was addressing a post budget breakfast forum at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre. Branker said “the BCCI stands ready to play its part in supporting government’s policies and programmes geared towards economic stability, growth and ultimately social and economic resilience by lending our voice, our expertise and our experiences to the benefit of our members and all Barbadians”.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Barbados Private Sector Association Trisha Tannis said speed of implementation and clarity would be the private sector’s plea in coming weeks. Commenting on sections of the budgetary proposals, Tannis said while she welcomed the ease in water rate for the agriculture sector, she believed Government should have also given an ease in the Garbage and Sewage Contribution (GSC) levy for businesses that disposed of their own waste.

“As we know there are several entities that take care of their own sewage disposal and so on, and therefore there is a very strong feeling that you really should need to exempt those entities that do take care of their own disposal and waste, and lower their cost of inputs,” said Tannis.

She also called for government to provide the details on planned reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), saying this should be done in a way that allows for improvement in the business climate.

“Notwithstanding the very progressive nature of the budget, I think we missed a fantastic opportunity [on Monday]. Other than naming the ten enterprises which came as no surprise to us again, I think we pulled up a bit short in actually driving home on what we absolutely need to see,” she said. In her presentation, Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that reform of SOEs would be addressed in earnest during the course of this year.

She singled out the Barbados Agricultural Management Company (BAMC), Barbados Agricultural Development Marketing Corporation (BADMC), the Barbados Agricultural Credit Trust, the National Housing Corporation, the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation, the Urban Development Commission, Rural Development Commission, the Transport Board, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Grantley Adams International Airport.

“I preferred to have seen a real deep dive to stop what I call the bleed. There are hundreds of millions of dollars sitting down under these state-owned enterprises,” said Tannis, who agreed that governance should be strengthened and proper financial monitoring systems should be put in place.

“I wasn’t too impressed that we are about to bring members on to the board and try to train them to be board members. That would not happen in the private sector.

Either you have the competence to be a board member and you can manage an entity or you are not a board member. So bringing them on and then trying to train them may have resulted in where we are here today,” she said.

Tannis also expressed surprise at the revelation that government over transferred to the transport board during the current fiscal year, saying it showed the urgent need to “get serious about plugging these fiscal gaps and if we do so we could find a gold mine of fiscal space”.

Acknowledging that the tourism sector “did not get too much love” in Monday’s budget, Tannis said there were however, some legislative reforms relating to the Tourism Development Act and the Tourism Development Amendment Act that she was surprised were not mentioned.

Government is expected to review those Acts to make it easier for all tourism related entities including stand-alone restaurants to access concessions the same way as hotels.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb