BERT ‘put more cash in Bajan pockets’ – Caddle

Economic Affairs Minister Marsha Caddle has defended the homegrown structural adjustment programme known as BERT, suggesting it has put as much as five per cent more money in the pockets of Bajans.

She described the fiscal policy on Sunday as a series of strategic reductions in income tax and corporation tax together greater investment in key social safety nets.

Caddle joined a growing list of the Government’s economic spokespersons who are adamant that ordinary Barbadians are prospering rather than being mere victims of fiscal maneuvering by the Mia Mottley administration.

She argued those gains are the result of the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme.

So positive is the local economy performing, Caddle declared, that the once condemned Government bonds are now trading above face value at one dollar and two cents on the dollar.

Caddle said: “This has never happened in the history of any country that has had to restructure its debt and it has happened because this BLP Government has been able to send the world all of the signs that Barbados is back, that we are on track again and have been able to inspire so much confidence that people want to hold Barbados debt again.”

Such developments she credits to drastic economic relief from cumbersome income and corporation taxes along with other measures imposed by the previous administration.

Following increased finance for welfare, tertiary education, healthcare, sanitation, and law enforcement, Caddle claimed the Government turned its attention to increasing the income of low and middle-income earners across the country.

Pointing to the reverse tax credits of $1,300 for individuals making up to $25,000 per annum, $1,250 in compensatory credit for people making less than 35,000 per annum and key reductions for persons earning up to 75,000, she argued that all citizens in these brackets received five per cent increases in annual income.

Caddle declared: “When people get out there and cause all of this noise and confusion saying this country is being taxed more, the truth is that this Barbados Labour Party administration has put more money in people’s pockets, not only on the income tax but on the vat refunds and on the corporation tax refunds that we have been systematically working through to get money back into people’s pockets.”

The Economic Affairs Minister further argued that contrary to some suggestions, only the most expensive properties in Barbados were hit by increases in land tax while the highest corporation taxes have been imposed on the biggest companies.

She said: “Eighty per cent of Barbadians had no change in their land tax and furthermore, we have increased the corporation tax on the biggest companies.

“We have converged our corporation tax rates down, but I want to go into detail because I think sometimes when we assume that people understand the details, misinformation is allowed to take hold.

“Even within the lower tax rates and even with the lowest OECD tax rates in the world, the way we are able to share the burden and shift the burden to those who can really afford it is by increasing corporation tax on the larger companies from 0.25 per cent to 1 per cent so there is more sharing of the tax burden.”

These changes, she said, facilitated the reductions in income taxes on workers and was a “conscious decision” by the administration to promote labour.

Caddle added: “We don’t let things catch us in the dead of night without being prepared.

“So, what we attempted to do and have been able to do is to lower the rates and percentages of taxes proportionally so that those who tend to spend most of their income on the local economy would have more of that income to spend and that would stimulate economic growth and that would get economic activity in the country.”