By SANCHESKA BROWN
Tribune Staff Reporter
sbrown@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Perry Christie said yesterday the government is “on track” to reduce the country’s deficit and increase revenue by the end of the fiscal year.
Painting a positive picture of the government’s financial performance during his 2014/2015 mid-year budget communication in the House of Assembly, Mr Christie also said the government has succeeded in “reining in the growth of public expenditure”.
“I am pleased to report that my government has met its initial commitments to reduce the deficit and increase revenue as a percentage of GDP. As was set out in the last budget communication, this fiscal plan is expected to produce significant improvements in the nation’s public finances this fiscal year. Specifically, through the plan, we expect the GFS deficit in 2014/15 to decline to below $300 million, or around 3.2 per cent of GDP, from a level of $462 million, or 5.4 per cent of GDP, in 2013/14. This represents a one-year improvement in the deficit of more than $160 million. I think we can all agree that in the historical context, this represents a major improvement that we should all be proud of,” he said.
“The government’s fiscal performance for the six-month period ending December 31, 2014 reveals that we are on track to achieve this projected improvement in the deficit this fiscal year.”
He said that at the mid-point of the current fiscal year, recurrent expenditure is at $889 million or 48.7 per cent of the full-year budget estimate; recurrent revenues came in at $689 million or 38.9 per cent of the forecast; and capital expenditure is at $135 million or 40.7 per cent of the budgeted amount.
He added that the GFS deficit for the first half of the fiscal year is provisionally estimated at $273 million or 95 per cent of the 2014/15 targets.
“It is important to place the latter figure in proper context as the size of the overall deficit as at December 31, 2014 clearly reflects the seasonality of our revenue flows,” Mr Christie said. “The reality is that a disproportionate share of the government’s annual revenue is collected in the 3rd and 4th quarters of the fiscal year, or between January and June of the calendar year. Of course, the new VAT, having come into effect just last month, is also expected to bolster revenue collections in the second half of the fiscal year.”
Mr Christie also said the government’s revenue reform methods are “paying off” pointing out that since the PLP took office, revenue has grown by 6.2 per cent, including this year’s projected revenue. He also said the government has achieved “significant deceleration” in expenditure growth without any reduction in public staff or service.
“With respect to principal and interest payments, the Ministry of Finance has moved into a more active stance with respect to debt management, with the issuance of government debt over BISX. This not only provides annual savings of a minimum of half per cent per annum but, by developing a yield curve, it will also allow other Bahamian-based companies to price their securities on a more transparent basis,” he said.
“The overall impact of this initiative, as well as other cost savings and risk minimizing initiatives, such as hedging Yuan denominated debt and interest rate hedges, has led to a reduction in overall interest expense from 5.2 per cent in (fiscal year) 2009/2010 to a projected 4.8 per cent in the current fiscal year. This has translated into annual savings of $21 million which have been directly allocated to deficit reduction.”
Mr Christie said the government is moving with “high purpose” in the right direction on fiscal management. He said: “Already the fruits of our labour are being manifested and the best is yet to come.”
Comments
moncurcool 9 years, 2 months ago
Yeah, the government has increased revenue but screwing us with VAT, while not reducing their expenditure.
Hogfish 9 years, 2 months ago
i get sick everytime i hear this jackass speak.
duppyVAT 9 years, 2 months ago
True ............... the gall of this imbecile!!!!!!!! Gushing over mashing up the small man ............ and saying that he believe in Bahamians???????
SP 9 years, 2 months ago
........................ Christie DOES believe in Bahamians ........................
He believes we are bigger jackass's than he is.........NOT!
asiseeit 9 years, 2 months ago
It is good that they have decreased the deficit. The sad fact we are still going deeper into debt. to the tune of 300 million dollars a year. This is nothing to be proud of, they are still digging the hole. I will applaud when the stop digging the hole of debt we are being swallowed by. If the Bahamas was a business, we would have closed our doors long ago and laid everyone off, nothing to be proud of Mr. P.M., nothing at all.
asiseeit 9 years, 2 months ago
Also this reduction in deficit has nothing to do with government cutting spending or being fiscally prudent. This reduction of the deficit is only brought about by the government INCREASING TAXES. VAT, you say, yep VAT. So government and Mr PM need to shut up and sit down, this reduction is because government is stealing a greater portion of what you and I work so hard to make.
duppyVAT 9 years, 2 months ago
I want Perry to say that "I have been successful in increasing the collection rate of non-VAT taxes to the Treasury from 40% to 70% since July 2014"............ then I will give him a round of applause
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 2 months ago
WORTH REPEATING: Ugly lame brain Christie devotes a significant portion of his mid-year budget speech to telling us there will in fact be no competition amongst what will effectively be government controlled mobile service providers. But he fails to mention even one word in his mid-year budget speech about his government's failure to address BEC's outrageous billings and the very serious electricity supply issues confronting our country today. Summer is coming Mr. Christie and we have already been warned by renowned meteorologists around the world that it will be one of the hottest (if not the hottest) one on record. What are we to do Mr. Christie when Baha Mar joins our already strained beyond capacity electrical grid and BEC diverts electricity from our homes and businesses to the foreign owned hotels leaving us poor Bahamians (including students in our schools) without lights, fans and air conditioners in the miserable unrelenting heat of Summer? Mr. Christie it is only too obvious that you do not care in the least about the health and well being of Bahamians at large. You only care about yourself and your select political and business cronies who you choose to shower riches upon that have been stolen from the Bahamian people. Only your privileged political and business cronies will be guaranteed all the electricity they want for their businesses and homes and you no doubt have told pot cake lady smacking Leslie Miller just who should be on his list of those privileged individuals and businesses to receive all the electricity they need at the expense of the rest of us sweltering in the heat of Summer. What a wicked tyrannical imbecile you are Mr. Christie! JUST HOW ABSURD CAN IT BE?! NOT ONE WORD IN YOUR MID-YEAR BUDGET SPEECH ABOUT SOMETHING KILLING MOST OF US DAILY: BEC's OUTRAGEOUS BILLINGS AND THE SERIOUS LACK OF MUCH NEEDED RELIABLE ELECTRICAL GENERATING CAPACITY!!!
TheMadHatter 9 years, 2 months ago
Why won't he say how much of the $6 Billion dollars we owe to international lenders has been paid off, and what is the new balance owing. The balance at May 2012 and the Balance at Dec 2014 ?
That is the real problem. Those are the people who can devalue our dollar.
TheMadHatter
asiseeit 9 years, 2 months ago
They have NO intention of paying down the debt. With this slippery P.M. you have to listen closely, he has a forked tongue just like a snake in the grass. You see him touting the reduced deficit (which fools like birdie will eat up), yet he say nothing about the fact that the only reason the deficit is reduced is because he has RAISED TAXES. The reduced deficit is still a deficit and therefore we are still going deeper into debt. So to make this simple for the slow out there, all the man is saying is, "I raised taxes on you and that has reduced the amount I must borrow", that is all he is saying. He has NOT cut spending, he is not fiscally prudent, and the country IS still going DEEPER into debt.
TalRussell 9 years, 2 months ago
Comrades wouldn't be hard to have noticed that everything the PM is seeing through his imaginary goggles,, are appearing paychecks rosy.
SP 9 years, 2 months ago
........................... P.M. Perry Gladstone Christie is full of horse-shit ..............................
Perry is standing around talking bull-shit for idiots 101.
Tell ME Christie how the hell 55 Bahamians amassed BILLIONS in wealth!
http://zizonline.com/bank-leak-reveal...">http://zizonline.com/bank-leak-reveal...
I bet 9 to 1 and box the 9 that Christie can riddle off the first names of every Bahamian involved in crooked deals regarding mining Bahamas natural resources..... starting with himself!
Go to hell Gladston....We are not as stupid as you think we are.....we are F-ING well read!
proudloudandfnm 9 years, 2 months ago
Man all Perry has to say is the recession is over. That's it.... Then go back to being the worst PM of all time....
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