nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Some $75.8m in unplanned COVID-19 assistance and previous lockdowns have forced the Government to target $200m in extra spending cuts over the next six months, it was revealed yesterday.
Senator Kwasi Thompson, the newly-appointed minister of state for finance, told the Senate that the Minnis administration is aiming to slash $100m apiece from both its capital and recurrent (fixed cost) spending after 2020-2021 first quarter revenues came in $68m below projections while spending soared.
Explaining that the cuts were essential to keep the Government on track for a record $1.327bn deficit, as forecast in the May Budget, Mr Thompson pledged: For the remainder of this fiscal year and over the immediate term, the Government will seek to maintain its current budget deficit target of no more than $1.3bn.