KUAR | By Wesley Brown / Arkansas Advocate
A mild recession and a holiday spending hangover. That’s what economic forecasters predict for 2023 as lawmakers head to the state Capitol in January.
Rising interest rates and persistent inflation will push the economy into a downturn, experts say, and those economic clouds could also cause the 94th General Assembly to consider any robust spending programs in light of a possible nationwide slowdown.
As Gov. Asa Hutchinson winds down his administration, he recently reported to lawmakers that Arkansas’ budget coffers are overflowing with $2.78 billion of reserve funding.
Photo Courtesy Gov. Asa Hutchinson/Arkansasadvocate.Com
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (left) and Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe) talk before Hutchinson presents his fiscal year 2024 state budget at the Nov. 10, 2022, meeting of the Legislature’s Joint Budget Committee. The budget projects a surplus despite forecasts of a mild recession in 2023.
