A few days ago Prime Minister Perry Christie promised to detail how monies collected from Value-Added Tax (VAT) was spent and yesterday he shocked the nation by actually following through on a promise in a timely manner but it was quickly realized that his explanation has invoked even more questions than it answered and actually lays out how the implementation of VAT was intended to service the economy thereby showing how the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) government has failed at this objective – what else is new?

“PM: Not a dollar of VAT wasted – Christie says $1.14 bn in revenue fritted away” – The Tribune

Excerpt from this article; “Amid lingering questions regarding Value-Added Tax (VAT) collections, Prime Minister Perry Christie was on the defensive yesterday as he explained how his administration handled $1.14bn in VAT revenue accumulated during 2015 and 2016, insisting that not one dollar of the money has been ‘frittered away’ or spent ‘surreptitiously’.

Finally giving an extensive explanation of VAT revenue since the matter was reignited following the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) convention in January, the Prime Minister told Parliamentarians it was a ‘worrisome’ and ‘nonsensical’ misconception that his administration mishandled VAT money.  The issue, he said needed to be put to rest once and for all.”

What the Prime Minister must understand, in this age of a more enlightened populace and in an age of modern technology, matters such as these will never be ‘put to rest’ as long as the people have questions; these questions must be satisfied.

Prime Minister Perry Christie states; “…it is was ‘worrisome’ and nonsensical’ misconception’ that his administration mishandled VAT money’; so it is the Prime Minister’s position that in light of the government has collecting more monies from its citizens through tax reform, it is ‘worrisome’ and ‘nonsensical’ for those citizens to then enquire as to how this money is being spent especially when the national debt and the deficit have increased at an alarming rate and the country’s sovereign credit rating has been downgraded four times; is he really serious?

So how was the money collected from Value-Added Tax (VAT) spent?

“He [the Prime Minister/Minister of Finance] told the House of Assembly, 40 percent of VAT revenue went towards reducing the deficit, 30 percent replaced revenue forgone from tax reductions and the remaining 30 percent went towards general expenditures.”, but yet there are reports that the government’s fiscal deficit for the six months to end – December 2016 had more than doubled year-over-year, increasing to 112 percent, now up to $314.2 million and the total government expenditure rising by $121.9 million up 11.7 percent to $1.66 billion; so when the Prime Minister makes statements such as the following; then I am totally confused – “Put further in layman’s term, if I reduce the amount by which my expenditures exceeds my revenue, the less money I borrow.  This is a slowing of debt accumulation” .  This how we thought that things should have worked but the present state of the economy does not bear this out.

The Prime Minister/Minister of Finance goes on to say; “As my revenues start to exceed my expenses, which are projected to take place [by the] fiscal year 2018/2019, there would be an actual reduction in debt”, Mr. Prime Minister/Minister of Finance, most of us actually realize this economic fact, which you had suggested had already began in a statement earlier in your communication, and this gives us even more reason to question how tax revenue is being spent and for you to now even suggest that by 2018/2019 there would be a reduction in debt, given the current economic path that we are on is asking us to take a giant leap of faith with you and given the ‘dark paths’ that you have already led us down; we do not trust you enough anymore to take such a risk – simple risk management.

Indeed, Mr. Prime Minster/Minister of Finance”‘……if the government has been able to repay debt without having to borrow as much, we are on the right fiscal path”, but this has taken place yet but yet the implementation of VAT is deemed a great success and the explanation which you have given is considered viable by you and your government – despite four downgrades.   I can only surmise that you await the moment when our economy is on the brink to come and ‘save’ it, as you claimed to have done with the Baha Mar project, but sir, we are at junk status now; so when will you wake up?

The Progressive Liberal Party fails for one reason, it is their nature.

END