“Cooper: Clear indication budget projections not being met” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Exuma and Ragged Islands MP Chester Cooper said yesterday the government’s report detailing its fiscal performance in the first quarter of 2018/2019 is a ‘colorful narrative’ that shows that it has a lot of ground to cover if it intends to meet its fiscal projections.

‘The report shows VAT collections up by 19 percent even though the rate increased by 60 percent,’ Cooper said in a statement.

‘This seems a clear indication that projections are not being met and the projected net increase for the year will not be met.’

‘Noting the potential for seasonality in revenues, this is still major red flag.  We maintain that the so-called expert modeling and massive tax hike itself were ill-advised.’

‘On the current trajectory, we would likely see more tax hikes, more borrowing or massive recessionary but backs at year-end.’

‘Many expenditure items are below budget most likely because of timing and delay in payment.  This seems to be code of cash management.’

‘What it shows, if anything, is that the government is engaged in guess work with its projections and no sound reasoning went into its lofty expectations.”

First I would just like to ask the question as I am not an accountant but isn’t a budget projection an education guess based on the current information that you have before you and guesses as to what viable may present themselves when carrying out a plan/budget; at least this is what I was taught as a project manager?

Then I have a problem with the statement: “The report shows VAT collections up by 19 percent even though the rate increased by 60 percent”; I am failing to see the correlation between the VAT collection rate and the rate by which it was increased; but the fact that collections are up signals that collections were down under the former administration.

While the Hon. Chester Cooper fights for the right words to say to make himself still seem viable as a potentially decent political; as many saw him as a rising star within the Progressive  Liberal Party (PLP) he seems quite eager to prove them wrong with statements that make no sense and calls his ‘brilliance’ into question.’

It would seem that the main point of the entire commentary by Mr. Cooper is “…it [the government] has a lot of ground to cover if it intends to meet its fiscal projections”; a fact already conceded by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, K. Peter Turnquest, so this is no news to the government.

So while Chester Cooper pontificates about the government not meeting its ‘budget projections’; I would like to ask him when was the last time that a government did actually meet its fiscal projections and also where was he during the entire governance of the former administration?

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