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So then, government never had the money to pay the stepped up interest rate anyway.  It’s sort of like they went from being bankrupt, to just being broke. So instead of free money, or milk and honey, the years ahead will be a time of belt tightening and austerity.  Government will have to increases revenues through taxes, and cut spending at the same time. So, what’s on the table, and what is not?  The Prime Minister told us only what is not:…

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow - Minister of Finance
"No public officer will be retrenched, no increment freeze. The last instalment of the salary increase which I and I won't embarrass anybody but others would have liked to see turned into a health insurance scheme for public officers and teachers but which the BNTU was having none of. That 3% which we put off because of the hurricane last year will be paid together with the interest and so while consolidation there will be, while tightening there will be, while revenue raising measures there will be, while spending slashes there will be. We will present a budget that will leave intact and preserve our public officers and teachers and the working man and woman, no rollback has been suggested by the IMF of the threshold for income tax relief, no business tax increase."