The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The FNM’s deputy leader has dismissed Government claims his party will ‘stop, review and cancel’ all agreements if elected to office, although “fluff contracts” would face close scrutiny.

K P Turnquest told Tribune Business that an FNM-led government “will certainly not stop” any government projects and contracts that are in the Bahamian people’s best interest.

Yet, by the same token, he said Bahamian taxpayers must “get value for money” from all contracts, indicating that those already in place - and which fail to meet that criteria - will be examined and reassessed.

“We certainly will not stop progress on projects that are worthy and in the public interest,” Mr Turnquest confirmed to Tribune Business.

“At the same time, we have to look at fluff contracts to make sure the taxpayer is getting value for money. None of this ‘stop, review and cancel bull s*, but we have to be prudent in what we’re doing.”

The FNM’s Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) rivals have frequently used the ‘stop, review and cancel’ mantra as a stick with which to beat their opponent on the campaign trail, suggesting that a Dr Hubert Minnis-led government will annul everything from scholarships to efforts to regularise part-time civil servants by giving them permanent, pensionable posts.

The ‘stop, review and cancel’ phrase relates to the FNM’s last term in government, when Standard & Poor’s (S&P), the credit rating agency, suggested in one of its assessments that the then-Ingraham administration had applied such treatment to $80 million worth of contracts issued by its predecessor.

Then-Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, and his minister of state for finance, Zhivargo Laing, vehemently rejected S&P’s analysis, telling Tribune Business at the time that they only met two contracts in any state of completion upon coming to office in May 2007.

However, the ‘stop, review and cancel’ phrase stuck, and Mr Turnquest’s comments were likely an attempt to prove such claims are unfounded and merely PLP ‘scaremongering’.

The FNM deputy leader also pledged to Tribune Business that the party would seek to introduce so-called ‘fiscal rules’ during its “first cycle” in office, with the Government’s weak financial condition likely to hinder some of its plans.

“We are committed to fiscal discipline, and living within our means,” Mr Turnquest said. “We know we will be faced with some serious challenges in the first year.

“It may delay some of the things we want to do, but we are committed to putting in ‘fiscal rules’ in the first cycle to set the stage for growth in years to come.”

The governing PLP is the only party that has failed to commit to introducing a Fiscal Responsibility Act, and/or ‘fiscal rules’, if it wins the May 10 general election.

The Christie administration failed to deliver on promises, made in the February 2015 mid-year Budget presentation, to initiate a public consultation on introducing a Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Such an Act would force the Government to be more accountable and transparent in the management of the public finances, and require it to return to Parliament for approval to raise more money if it had to exceed the limits approved in the annual Budget.

Some have argued that the ‘fiscal rules’ referred to by Mr Turnquest, which set Budget and debt-to-GDP ratio targets the Government cannot exceed, would lock or ‘box in’ an administration such that it would not be able to effectively respond to emergencies, such as Hurricane Matthew.

The FNM deputy leader, though, said the party’s plan was to generate “organic” revenue growth through rebuilding private sector confidence and GDP expansion, while simultaneously keeping government spending in check.

“I think our immediate challenge is going to be our fiscal situation,” Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business. “We are faced with a tremendous debt crisis and lack of confidence in the economy.

“It’s going to be a challenge just to figure out how we balance the need for further investment and the cost of that investment.”

He added that the Government’s spending had to be “brought back under control”, so that the next administration can “focus on long-term growth strategies for the country”.

“Increasing taxes organically is going to be the challenge,” Mr Turnquest said. “I don’t think it’s wise at this point in time to put further increases in taxes on the backs of citizens.

“We’re going to have to be more efficient, do more with less and stop the leakages.”

Tribune Business revealed on Monday that data in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) World Economic Outlook shows the Bahamas has enjoyed four consecutive years of no economic growth, with a 0 per cent expansion of GDP in 2016.

Mr Turnquest said the consequences of the Bahamas’ struggles to generate economic growth could be seen throughout many communities, including the persistently high crime and murder rates.

Families were breaking down, and splitting as parents sought work on other islands, while many Bahamians were falling into “desperation and frustration” as a result of their social circumstances.

“Social security costs are threatening the country because the need is so great,” Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business, “and at the same time the tax base is getting smaller. It’s a real concern for the country.”