Public servants to get their backpay before September
Newsday
Friday, January 22, 2016
Good news for public servants who are awaiting their backpay.
Finance Minister Colm Imbert is assuring that all public servants will be paid “long before September 2016.” Imbert said “we are out there in the banking sector right now, determining how much money is available, what it will cost, but we will be borrowing to pay the arrears because we simply don’t have the cash.
That will be done long before September 2016.
I don’t want to give a precise date at this time but in a month or two, I will be able to give a precise date as to when we will be settling the arrears,” the minister told reporters.
Questioned about money owed to contractors, Minister Imbert said the “last administration didn’t pay their bills (so) more and more debts are piling up and more and more payments are due.”
Revealing the total to be in the billions, Minister Imbert said paying off the debt would “require a debt management strategy” by his ministry if it is to pay contractors while investing in projects to stimulate the economy. Government is looking at the issuance of bonds to do so.