PRESS RELEASE 56/14 For Immediate Release April 7, 2014 2014/2015 BUDGET TO FOCUS ON REDUCING THE DEFICIT Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Hon. Dr. Kenny D. Anthony, says the focus for the 2014/2015 Budget will be on reducing the deficit and promoting investment. During an HTS News Force interview on Friday, April 4, 2014, the Prime Minister gave an insight into the Budget and highlighted the areas of focus for the new financial year. Dr. Anthony explained, “There is no question this is a challenging period for the Government and indeed, for the People of Saint Lucia. I am on record as indicating that I think the worse is over for the private sector but that is not so for the Government because we still have a budget deficit to deal with. We have made good progress on reducing the deficit. The year before, the deficit stood at 9.6% of (GDP) and we have been able to reduce it to 6.3%. We have to continue to reduce it and so, some effort and attention will be paid to reducing the deficit even further. It is clear that in order to reduce the deficit, we must engage in significant expenditure reduction.” According to the Minister for Finance, the country’s revenue has shown some positive signs. Dr. Anthony remarked, “The very good news is that Revenue has stabilized and VAT has settled. That will now give me some room to maneuver in terms of making some other adjustments in taxation. I am on record as saying that I do not believe we should introduce any new taxes at this time. Whatever changes will occur are changes within the existing range of policies. While there will be adjustments of varying kinds, I do not believe new taxes is the way to go.” The Prime Minister hinted that some adjustments may be made to the Value Added Tax regime. The Prime Minister said, “The private sector has been clamouring for some time to reduce the number of items on the VAT exempted list of goods. Saint Lucia has the highest number of exempted items (in the Eastern Caribbean) on its VAT legislation. The private sector has been making demands to reduce that list because they are cannot claim the input VAT on these exempted items. This is a matter we are considering, as there are a number of items that ought not to have been on the exempted list.” The dates for the 2014/2015 Budget will be announced later this week. END.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Apr 2014 14:03:00 +0000
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