The Chief Executive (CEO) of Dalex Finance, Kenneth Thompson, has intimated that the government has many options if it decides to embark on stringent expenditure-cut measures.

He said the expenditure cut should not necessarily be huge parts of our expenditure but bits and pieces to aid in fiscal consolidation.

Ken Thompson said it will be disastrous for the economy in the coming years to be managed with the same set of rules it is currently being managed.

He made the statement in anticipation of the presentation of the 2024 budget on November 15.

“The issue is not domestic debt; it’s about spending within your means. The IMF is a red herring, a complete red herring for an economy worth $80 billion. $3 billion is nothing,” citinewsroom.com quoted him.

He said: “Assuming that the IMF brings fiscal discipline with the $3 billion, we still need to work on our expenditure, and that’s the key thing. And when we talk about reducing expenditure, we’re not talking about cutting off these bits of fat from our expenditure. We’re currently cutting bits and pieces of our expenditure. We need to axe off much of our expenditure, and that’s what we need to do.”

Despite proposing expenditure cuts, Ken Thompson emphasized the need for the government to prioritize the poor and vulnerable in society.

“As a country, what we must focus on now is how to protect the poor. If you talk about cutting expenditures, there’s a long list of things we can cut, but we need to protect the poor, and we need to focus on health, education, infrastructure, food, and everything else because we are in a very bad place,” he noted.

SSD/OGB

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