DELAYS AND MAJOR problems in the Bridgetown Port have been cited by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as being disadvantageous to businesses and to the island’s tax revenue.
The Washington-based organisation told reporters in a teleconference from the United States on Wednesday that it had provided twice last year an action plan on how to improve customs administration and operations at the Port. “There are significant problems and delays in that and it’s also something that’s been cited by the private sector as a major impediment,” said IMF mission chief for Barbados, Nicole Laframboise.
She also said that the IMF had found that in general, Barbados’ tax system was not working very well, and that the structure of domestic taxation, particularly in terms of administration and collection “on the revenue and the customs side”, needed improvement.
“For example, in the Customs and Excise Department, we estimated that revenues were gone based on exemptions and waivers under the existing structure, [but] could be as high as over four or five per cent of GDP [Gross Domestic Product],” she added.
