Economist and former government minister, Marsha Caddle is contending that the wealthy should pay more to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).
Caddle made the assertion last week during the League of Young Socialists Annual General
Barbados must explore a more progressive National Insurance Scheme (NIS) that could include higher contributions from the wealthy with no increased benefits for those individuals, economist Marsha Caddle has proposed.“I stand by it. I don’t know if it is a recommendation that the Government will take but I think that the NIS contribution system has to start to more closely align with our progressive tax system,” she said as she presented wide-ranging proposals for the fund which experts warn could be depleted in 12 to 20 years if urgent action is not taken to bolster it.Addressing the annual general meeting of the League of Young Socialists at Barbados Labour Party headquarters last Saturday, the Government backbencher cautioned that the country must be very cautious about determining which category of citizens can afford to pay more.“Because when we set these thresholds for higher contributions too low, then we have an issue with a middle class that is vulnerable and that is a
After all the ‘pomp and pageantry’ in Parliament last Friday the issues pertaining to the Auditor General’s Report have still not been addressed.That’s according to president of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Dr Ronnie Yearwood, who has again called on the Mia Mottley-led administration to come clean and account for some of the damning information revealed in the most recent report.During debate in Parliament last week several ministers including Senior Minister Kerrie Symmonds and Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs Ryan Straughn, along with backbencher Marsha Caddle, staunchly defended Government and insisted that the Auditor General’s Report did not point to any wrongdoing.However, Dr Yearwood told Barbados TODAY that some serious allegations highlighted in the report needed to be explained.
Government backbencher Marsha Caddle is calling on Government to “once and for all address the assertions” related to the Auditor General’s Report as the mood in the country seems to be one “where people in an absence of facts and an absence of information are creating all kinds of storylines”. Speaking in the House of Assembly yesterday afternoon during debate on the Electric Light And Power (Amendment) Bill, 2022, the …
Barbados’ debt position is back where it was prior to the painful debt structuring in 2018 but there is only a glimmer of hope since Government is in a better position to service its debt this time around.This assessment from Barbadian economist Carlos Forte, who indicated that while the current debt is manageable, the position in which Government now finds itself means that no further borrowing can take place or it will put future generations in peril.“It is time to take stock,” he said.Forte said the 2018/2019 debt restructuring reduced the island’s debt burden “and liberated the country from a debt trap”.“However, since 2020 Barbados has borrowed more than US$1.25 billion from multilateral lending institutions such as the IMF, World Bank, Caribbean Development Bank, and Inter-American Development Bank. That’s the equivalent of BD$2.5 billion,” he said.