NASSAU — Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Deputy Leader and Shadow Minister of Finance Chester Cooper yesterday said time would be better spent by the Minnis administration if it focused on getting the economy going with fresh foreign and local investment, rather than creating more bureaucracy and hoops for the Bahamian people and the public service to jump through with the draft Fiscal Responsibility Bill, 2018, the Nassau Guardian reported on May 16.
The purpose of the bill, which the government made public on Monday and which is currently under public consultation, is to constrain government’s fiscal processes and keep the country on a medium-term trajectory toward economic growth, while creating a culture of transparency and responsibility with regard to public funds.
With no real repercussions for government if it does not adhere to the stipulations in the bill, Cooper also questioned “what the point of the legislation is, if the government can simply waive its responsibility to adhere to it”.
“In addition, whose bright idea was it to only have two weeks for consultation from the public on such broad government commitments to fiscal goals that will surely impact the nation?” Cooper asked in a statement released on Tuesday.
On the same day government made the bill public, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which, along with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), provided guidance on the framework for the bill, released its recommendation to The Bahamas on the implementation of fiscal responsibility legislation.
Though supportive of a sensible, comprehensive approach to fiscal responsibility, Cooper warned government “of handing off to the Bahamian people legislation dictated to it by large global financial institutions”.
