I view it vastly more likely that this isn't anything personal, it's just a new corporate decision to limit who has access to the code. If someone's job is a bit more complicated, but they can still do their work, while the company is far more protected, that is a good trade-off for lots of folks.
Also, your company "looking to reduce expenses" doesn't mean anything. Every company is. You will hear that, in some form or another, in almost any organization. If they have to increase spend for cybersecurity, they will.