The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) opened its national convention last night, the first since 2009; not too shabby for a democratic organization that governs the country but just cannot seem to follow its very own constitution which calls for a national convention every year.

What I found most impressive about the night is that the party chose this forum to finally explain to the country, to whom they are accountable, where the money collected from Value-Added Tax (VAT) has been going.

“That’s where the VAT money gone’ – Halkitis claims finances on good footing” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “In an attempt to silence repeated calls for the government to detail exactly how value-added tax (VAT) revenue has been spent since its implimentatin in 2015, Minister of State for Finance Michael Halkitis provided a breakdown of what he claimed was the government’s use of the money when he addressed the Porgressive Liberal Party (PLP) convention last night.

VAT was introduced in January 2015 at a rate of 7.5 percent nearly $1 billion has been collected to date.

Despite giving consideration to exempting VAT on utilities and certain other services, the government opted to tax ‘across the board’.

‘As a result of our reform program and despite a stubbornly difficult global environment, we have been able to get our finances on good footing, while at the same time doubling the investment in scholarships from $7.73million to $16.3 million” Halkitis told supporters.”

First I must commend the government on the great job that they have done with the economy, especially after introducing Value-Added Tax and only having the credit rating of the Bahamas downgraded four times.  It is amazing how the Free National Movement (FNM) administration before them, without the help of VAT only had the sovereign credit rating of the country downgraded……well never did, even at the worst times of the global recession.

The ‘report’ by Michael Halkitis, Minister of State for Finance is somewhat worrying due to the fact that as he claims of better economics times ahead and having the county’s ‘finances on good footing’, the unemployment rate continues to climb as more and more persons within the middle class area, the sector of the society that really drives the economy, shrinks at an alarming rate.

As the minister of state finance speaks to spending the funds collect from VAT on moving the College of the Bahamas to University status, rolling out the first stage of National Health Insurance, a new fleet of aircrafts for BahamasAir and hurricane rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Joaquin, when will really tell the Bahamian people that some of these initiatives required borrowing by the government; so just how much…..you  know what never mind…..

The Progressive