Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards yesterday suggested Finance Minister Paula Cox has been privately agreeing with the United Bermuda Party's damning verdict on Government spending.

Earlier this week, financial analysts Standards & Poor promoted Bermuda's creditworthiness from negative to stable, saying it sees "increasing political support for fiscal consolidation via reducing public expenditure".

Mr. Richards claims the Finance Ministry has shown no such public commitment to cutting spending — instead pushing through spending increases at this year's Budget.

But he believes Ms Cox must have told S&P that Government is in fact planning to cut back, something the UBP has repeatedly called for over the past few years.

"The statement about political support for restrictions on Government expenditure is amazing," Mr. Richards told The Royal Gazette.

"Clearly the Minister has told S&P something that she has not told the Bermudian people, as there has been not a peep from MOF about curtailment of expenditure.

"During the last Budget debate Government was determined to forge ahead with expenditure increases. So this statement is starkly at odds with what has been declared in the House and in the local media.

"Perhaps the Minister has been privately agreeing with UBP statements and positions but has not admitted it to the public."

The report also warned Bermuda's rating could dip again if the Government deficit continues at current levels.

Mr. Richards said: "There is no indication that deficits will do anything other than continue under the weak economic conditions, so this report lacks a certain amount of realism."

And while the report gave hope that a more diversified economic growth could see the rating go up once more, Mr. Richards was not optimistic.

"The Minister has not done anything about diversifying the economy," he said.

"Indeed diversification ideas are spelled out in the Bermuda First initiative, something that this party supports and debated in Parliament but the Government has all but ignored."