‘First order of business is to stabilize revenue’

The new minister of economic affairs, Senator Michael Halkitis, yesterday said his ministry’s first order of business will be to assess the current state of the country’s finances and seek to stabilize the economy.

The new ministry was announced during the official swearing-in ceremony of the first nine cabinet ministers of the newly-elected Davis administration.

The ministry will encompass financial services, industry and trade, as well as focus improving the country’s ease of doing business and digitization efforts.

Halkitis said he has not yet “seen the books”, referring to the nation’s accounts.

“The first order of business would be to get an assessment of the state of our finances and where we’re at, what our obligations are, who we owe, what are the immediate obligations, what are the more long-term obligations, so that we can give the prime minister a snapshot of our current position and then we can begin to move forward with our strategy,” he told reporters following yesterday’s ceremony at Baha Mar.

“We have to stabilize the country’s finances. We’ve been hit tremendously by particularly the COVID-19 pandemic, our revenues are down, businesses have suffered, [so] we have to seek to stabilize that. We have to take a look at our debt position. Our partners in the financial services industry, the banks, et cetera, are telling us what we need to do is come up with a good, credible debt management strategy and that is what we will be developing.

“So, the first order of business is to stabilize the finances as far as the revenues and put in place a debt management strategy, so that we can decelerate the rate of borrowing and move toward a more balanced fiscal situation.”

Halkitis served as minister of state for finance under the last Christie administration and said he feels confident about the level of experience he can bring to digging the country out of debt and building fiscal resiliency.

“I’m familiar with the ministry, I’m familiar with the industry, I’m familiar with our international partners and so, I think that will go a long way. I’m honored and happy to have this appointment particularly at this challenging time because it presents an opportunity to really make a difference,” he said.

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