Newly released figures also show that from the period July to September, the government collected $446.1 million and spent $501.8 million, incurring a deficit of an estimated $55.8 million.
Speaking with the Bahama Journal Monday, Minister of State for Finance James Smith reaffirmed that a “vacancy” hiring freeze remains in place, an arrangement, he said, that is primarily due to revenue intake not meeting projections.
“The government did not put in very much in the budget for new employees,” he said. “There is a small amount in each budget, but not a great deal considering the size of the (public) service.”
“The idea is to replace persons particularly in those places where there is a special need, rather than just increasing staff members year after year, which has appeared to be the practice for many years. And until we have improvements in terms of reducing the deficit and some sustainable increases in revenue, there will be cutbacks to ensure that the public service does not increase beyond the revenue growth.”
Revenue shortfall stood at $39 million for the period July through September.
Ministry of Finance officials have pointed out that the government has been able to contain the shortfall as a result of continued monetary and fiscal restraints like holding the line on expenditure.
President of the Bahamas Public Services Union (BPSU) John Pinder is hoping the government reconsiders its decision and at least hire persons at the entry level, as there are several government ministries that are short staffed.
“There are a number of persons who need to be promoted, but this would leave vacancies at the entry level,” Mr. Pinder told the Bahama Journal Monday.
“All things considered, I would hope that most of the hiring is at the entry level to allow civil servants, who have reached a certain level to be promoted. And as long as this is the case, we will endorse this position.”
Last week, Central Bank Governor Julian Francis briefed BPSU officials on the state of the economy. At that time, Mr. Francis reportedly told the group that the deficit was going to run somewhere around $120 million and that there was still the need for prudence and caution in government spending, a sentiment Minister Smith also reiterated Monday.
“There will always be the need for this,” Mr. Smith said. “More than half of the budget is already committed to salary and gratuities, pensions and there is another 17 to 18 percent committed to debt servicing, which doesn’t really leave much room for flexibility…but even within that range, one has to be extremely careful about expenditure.”
The government has had to make provisions for promised salary increases for civil servants which add up to $24 million over the fiscal year.
Meanwhile, the BPSU and the government are preparing to begin negotiations on a new industrial contract for thousands of public sector workers.
“The new contract will certainly have to be an improvement over the last one which expired last year,” Mr. Pinder said.
He added, “However, if we can avoid lump sums, I would prefer this because this really does not strengthen our union members’ financial position in terms of their borrowing power nor does it give them a bigger pension. So, I will be focusing on getting at least $1,800 in the second year, which would certainly compensate for my members not receiving a lump sum.”
The BPSU leader is hoping to seal a three-year contract for union members, despite the
Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
