By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Government has actually increased taxpayer subsidies for some state-owned corporations despite previous indications these could be cut by up to 10 per cent for the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

A detailed analysis of expenditure for the upcoming Budget period shows, for example, that the Government is increasing the Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas (BCB) subsidy by $1.5 million year-over-year, raising it from $5.5 million to $7 million.

The same is also true for Bahamasair, which is in line to receive $20 million in taxpayer monies, a $1.4 million increase over the $18.6 million initially allocated for the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

This year’s sum is also a four-year high for the national flag carrier, which continued to bleed both the Bahamian taxpayer and Treasury heavily.

While the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s ‘capital development’ subsidy is held flat at $20 million, both the Bahamas Development Bank (BDB) and the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) are seemingly in line for a $3 million taxpayer injection each.

These represent a collective $6 million that they seemingly never received before, although it is possible they were included elsewhere - in other line items in previous Budgets.

A further $3.5 million has been allocated for ‘tax reform’, while both the Antiquities, Monuments and Museums Corporation and Clifton Heritage Authority are to get $1 million and $2.5 million increases, respectively.

Elsewhere, the Government is hoping its reforms will increase Business Licence fee revenues by $28.316 million, from $94.05 million to $122.366 million in 2014-2015.

That represents one of the few areas of revenue growth that the Government is projecting for the upcoming fiscal year.