New Tax Measures

Prime Minister Perry Christie has presented a US$2.1 billion budget to Parliament outlining a number of revenue measures and warning that the government cannot afford to spend more than it receives.
Christie told legislators that the Recurrent Expenditure is estimated at US$1,823 million, an increase of US $103 million from the previous year.Christie said that the increase reflects a number of factors.

“For one thing, not unexpected, debt servicing requirements next year will be up by US$40 million from this year, with public debt interest payments up by almost US$30 million and debt redemption higher by US$10 million.

However, Prime Minister Christie said the recurrent provisions have also been supplemented by reclassified amounts from the capital budget and that the new measure would explain another US$30 million of the Recurrent Expenditure increase in 2014/15.

Christie said regarding Capital Expenditure, his administration is adhering to its commitment to reduce its weight relative to the size of the economy over the medium term, to a more usual level of three per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

“This will require strict prioritization and timely profiling on the part of the Government. In light of the state of our economy and with near-term priorities, I am projecting Capital Expenditure at US$330 million in 2014/15, or 3.7 per cent of GDP.

“Beyond 2014/15, with the more robust private sector growth that is projected, Capital Expenditure will be gradually reduced relative to the size of the economy to reach our target level of 3 per cent of GDP in 2016/17,” Christie said.