CASTRIES, St. Lucia, May 7, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Kenny D. Anthony will Tuesday outline his administration’s policy statement for the 2012-13 fiscal year complimenting the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure debated and passed in the House of Assembly two weeks ago.
Anthony is expected to announce major incentives to create jobs and inject new life into St. Lucia’s weak economy.
“St. Lucians can look forward to the fulfillment of some of the promises made in the ‘Blue Print for Growth” as well as the announcement of major incentive packages for various sectors of the economy,” a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister noted Monday.
“As promised, more information will be given on the Government’s plan to introduce the Value Added Tax on September 1 and the ongoing tax amnesty,” the statement added.
Late last month, Anthony, who is also the Finance Minister, presented the estimates of expenditure totalling EC$1.4 billion (One EC dollar –US$0.37 cents) immediately followed by a debate on government’s fiscal spending for the 2012/13 term.
Parliamentary discussion on the estimates and policy statement are being held following a re-interpretation of the Standing Orders of Parliament which according to the new presiding officers, restricts members to specific content under the estimates of expenditure and the appropriation bill respectively.
Debate on the policy initiatives will be held on May 10 and 11 following Tuesday’s presentation of the budget address.
Of the total budget this year EC$962.9 million comprises recurrent expenditure and EC$494.9 million (or 34% higher than last year) goes to capital expenditure.
An estimated EC$331.3 million or 67 per cent of capital expenditure will go towards stimulating the economy, EC$29.7 million have been allocated to improving the lot of the poor and vulnerable and EC$1.7 million will meet the cost of changing over to machine-readable passports.
According to the Finance Minister recurrent revenue is expected to increase because of estimated collections after the introduction of Value Added Tax . Projected revenue under VAT is EC$145 million.
