In his response to the Estimates presentation opposition leader Dr. Godwin Friday questioned how the budget will be financed.
He pointed to other receipts which he said is one of the largest categories of funding in the budget amounting to 265 million dollars. Dr. Friday said no specific details have been provided as to how the government intends to get the money to fund this and other debts and if it doesn’t what are the consequences.
Dr. Friday noted that the room for borrowing is limited given the size of the country’s debt to GDP ratio which he said moved from 85% to 98%.
The opposition leader also told parliament that the people of SVG are in no position to afford any new taxes and the Estimates presented as the government’s thrust for the new year does not point to anything transformational or suggest any serious effort to move the country’s economy forward.