Finance Minister says ‘shared sacrifice’ needed to tackle debt

HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – Finance Minister Bob Richards says the new One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) government will honour a pre-election pledge not to lay off any civil servants but “shared sacrifice” is necessary to tackle Bermuda’s soaring debt.
He said government finances were “every bit as bad as we had feared” before the OBA took power a month ago.
On Wednesday, Richards said the government would seek talks with public-sector unions with pay cuts and shorter working weeks among the options on the table.