The Government’s revenue estimates were off by as much as 16 per cent at the recession’s peak, a key Ministry of Finance adviser yesterday describing this as creating “a very serious problem” that at one point blew the primary deficit up to $640 million.
James Smith, himself a former minister of state for finance in the 2002-2007 Christie administration, told Tribune Business that the higher fiscal deficits run by the Government from 2007-2008 onwards were created by overly optimistic revenue projections.
With government spending in each Budget tied directly to revenue estimates, Mr Smith said it was virtually impossible to adjust the former in time if the Government’s income failed to match expectations.
He told Tribune Business that Baha Mar’s economic impact during construction was “much less” than any of Kerzner International’s Paradise Island expansions, due to the workforce being dominated by Chinese labour.
