Weston Takes Budget Apart

Details

Economy

Wednesday, 16 January 2013 02:30

By Carol Williams

Antigua, St. John's - Former Financial Secretary Lennox Weston has labelled the 2013 budget as totally inadequate.

The opposition senator told the Upper House of Parliament on Tuesday that the projections do not take into account several critical factors that could potentially affect the government's finances this year. Among them are additional debt, and millions of dollars in court cases expected to be ruled on this year.

Opening the second day of debate in the Senate, Weston pointed out that the budget has a $156.5 million shortfall which the government is hoping to finance through a loan from the Caribbean Development Bank, borrowing on the Regional Government Securities Market and utilising the remaining funds from the IMF arrangement that expires around the middle of this year.

He said judgments are likely this year on the Half Moon Bay (HMB) and the APUA versus Antigua Power Company matters before the Privy Council.

The senator said the HMB dispute could cost the government at least US$21 M, while judgment in the APUA/APC dispute could cost the state in the region of US $120 M.

Weston said additional costs, such as the $90 M debt to a Brazilian firm for airport work, were also not taken into account.

In addition, he pointed to the precarious nature and cost of servicing the national debt during a cash crunch, and said this has increased this year. In spite of this challenge, he said significant sums are to be spent on areas such as public transfers, and transfers and grants.

"In terms of domestic (debt), it has moved from $118.8 M to $123.7 M," he said in his analysis. "In terms of external, it has moved from $48 M in 2011 to $89.6 M in 2013. Madame President, when you add up those, it's plenty money."

"There are massive and critical holes that it hasn't taken into account which will impact us. We are going to have a lot of crisis management coming at us," he said, adding that the budget lacks the growth component to drive the economy.

The opposition member outlined a 10-point alternative framework proposed by the opposition Antigua Labour Party that calls for the discontinuation of the National Economic and Social Transformation Plan.

He said the framework is growth-oriented and promises fiscal efficiency, job creation, energy cost reduction and sustainability, and technological development focused on IT, among other issues.

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Under this initiative, Weston said, the Grand Royal Antiguan Resort, which was sold to Trinidadian Issa Nicholas several years ago, should be re-acquired and expanded to become a convention centre.

"I am proposing, and the Labour Party has agreed in principle, to buy back Royal Antiguan...and then we find private investment, but we must first do the legwork..." he said.

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