Cash Flow and Solvency Warnings
St Vincent’s Opposition leader Ralph Gonsalves warned on Thursday that the current budget deficit structure creates immediate cash flow risks for the new administration.
Gonsalves during the 2026 budget estimates predicted that the government would have “problems paying salaries on a monthly basis” because the funding sources (loans) would not be available immediately.
He noted that market processes mean the first transfer of money from bonds might not arrive until late March.
Gonsalves declared that by seeking to “control and dispense scarcity” with such a large current account deficit of $105.5M, the government is on a “path to the IMF” (International Monetary Fund).
The Opposition Leader accused the current administration of hypocrisy and noted that when the current government was in opposition, they attacked what they called “ballooning debt” and fiscal deficits, yet now present a budget with significantly increased local borrowing and deficits.
Gonsalves argued that the estimates rely on “doubtful funding” and fail to provide a realistic path for economic growth, viewing the arithmetic of the deficit as relentless and indicative of a “perilous path”.