By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

BY the end of the year, the Christie administration will have driven the country’s deficit up to a number that exceeds what was left by the previous administration, Free National Movement Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest said yesterday.

He was speaking after the Central Bank of the Bahamas’ recently released January report showed that the country’s half-year fiscal deficit has risen to $312.2 million, a 112 per cent increase.

When elected in 2012, Christie administration officials criticised their predecessor for leaving the country in a “dire” fiscal position, noting that it met a deficit upwards of $500 million as a result of the Ingraham administration’s policies.

Mr Turnquest said yesterday: “Right now the deficit, according to the latest Central Bank report, is up to $314 million. When you consider the decline in revenue collection and the increase in expenditures with no indication that it’s going to update anytime soon, particularly in an election year, it is likely we will meet or exceed the recurrent deficit that was left in 2012 and that is despite the added impact of VAT.”

Mr Turnquest said this possibility should put to bed the idea that the Progressive Liberal Party is best at managing the country’s finances.

“It shows in simple terms the lack of management, the ineffective fiscal policy of this government, the irresponsible spending on programmes that bore very little return, if any, and a ballooning public service,” he said. “The results speak for themselves. We’re not talking about a recession that they faced here. Yes they’ve had to contend with a blip from the hurricane and we have to appreciate that but the expenditures have not been balanced out as a result.

“We haven’t seen any belt-tightening from this government. Any talk of 2012 are far outweighed by what we see today in the face of a global economy that’s growing and a national economy that seems to be shrinking.

“The report indicates that a 4.2 per cent rise in personal emoluments has occurred,” Mr Turnquest noted, calling this “incredible.”

“Some would say it’s negligent,” he added. “It’s unusual particularly in a period like this to have such a significant add on to the payroll of the government on the backs of the taxpayers while having a spiralling national debt.”

Mr Turnquest said he attributes this rise partly to temptations that come during an election season.

“I do connect it to the election season in some respects but this phenomenon is not new for this government,” he said. “If you go back to the last five years you would see significant increases year over year, reflecting new hires and consultants hired by the government.”

In its report, the Central Bank attributed the deficit hike to the fall-out from Hurricane Matthew, which hit devastated parts of the country in October 2016.

Mr Turnquest said this isn’t a sufficient explanation, however.

“I don’t buy it with respect to the fiscal deficit,” he said. “While revenues are down, expenditure is up 11.7 per cent. For them to say it’s attributable to the hurricane is disingenuous. We know they borrowed $150m to assist with that.”

Mr Turnquest said he wants more information about transfer payments and National Health Insurance-related expenditures.

“We have to look at these transfer payments which are up $53m,” he said. “We need to know what that represents. I suspect it has to do with the Bank of the Bahamas. There was another item of interest, which is other specific subsidies and transfers led by National Health Insurance. We need to know what that amount represents because we seem to be no closer to NHI than we were five years ago after spending millions of millions of dollars. If all of this money is in consultancy fees, it portends a disaster.”