Opposition Leader Ronnie Skelton warned this week that government’s accidental overspend on public service pay raises could cost $19 million instead of the $13 million previously estimated by Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley.
Mr. Skelton also told the Beacon that he opposes raising taxes to plug the gap, and he called on the premier to provide a clearer picture of the situation and his plans to fix it.
The comments followed Dr. Wheatley’s announcement last week that government is considering “revenue-raising measures” to cover the budget shortfall.
Pressed by the Beacon, Dr. Wheatley told a Sept. 16 press conference that no job losses or pay cuts would be imposed because of the mistake. But he was vague about how the budgetary gap would be addressed.
“We won’t have any lay-offs as a result of it,” he said. “We went to the House of Assembly a few weeks ago, and we were able to ensure at that time that we were able to meet our obligations until the end of the year. And, of course, we anticipate that we will be able to meet our obligations in every budget to follow.”
The premier added that any moves to boost government coffers as a result of the overspend would aim to shield the vulnerable.
“We will need to speak about revenue-raising measures, especially revenue-raising measures that don’t hurt those most vulnerable in our society,” he said.
“And we have to speak about a more efficient means of spending. The good thing is that we have quite a number of things on the table that would help us to increase revenue and to spend better.”
Mr. Skelton, however, told the Beacon that the shortfall could be much higher than thought.
“It could be $18 million or $19 million, not $13 million,” he said. “It’s a mess. I would not support tax increases. We need to stimulate the economy at this time.”
Dr. Wheatley has declined to provide further details, saying last week that the Internal Audit Department is probing the matter after he asked Governor Daniel Pruce to call for an investigation.
“Internal Audit will be able to conclude who was responsible, so I don’t want to pre-empt any report by the internal auditor,” he told the press conference. “But certainly we are clear that there has to be accountability for the matter of, I would say, miscalculation, of the monies that needed to be appropriated at the beginning of the year.”
In his 2024 budget address last November, the premier announced plans to include some $10 million in the budget to ensure that all public officers earn a “living wage.”
The cost of the salary increases, he has said, was originally estimated using the Compensation Review and Job Classification Report completed last November by a Trinidad branch of the global consulting firm
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), which was hired by the Deputy Governor’s Office.
After the new salary structure took effect in March — with the government claiming that all public officers were then earning a living wage — the DGO told the Beacon that the annual cost of the increases was still projected to be around $10 million.
But Dr. Wheatley told the HOA in August that a major discrepancy was discovered as the Ministry of Finance completed an analysis on April 19.
“The analysis revealed that there was a significant variance between the funding required for personal emoluments for the current officers, which as of [April 15] amounted to $25,056,518, and … the $11.7 million appropriated in the budget,” the premier, who is also the finance minister, said at the time.
Asked this week to comment on Mr. Skelton’s remarks, the premier told the Beacon, “I will reserve comment until the investigation is complete and I receive the report” from the internal auditor.
Ms. Pruce, who has responsibility for the civil service, declined to comment on the overspend at a joint press conference with the premier on Aug. 30.
