Dr Terrance Drew, Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, hope that the Nation’s economy will be uplifted and improved in the upcoming year 2023.
While addressing the Nation with the new budget in the National Assembly, PM Drew disclosed that some of the major features of the COVID-19 pandemic will remain the same till June 2023, which as per the Government, had a comprehensive stocktaking and updated information on the actual state of affairs in Nation’s economy.
Dr Drew, while highlighting the Fiscal Measures and Strategic Intervention, Added that several uncertainties and problems faced by the global economy, such as exogenous shocks, are aimed to be minimized in St. Kitts and Nevis.
While addressing parliamentarians and the Nation, he said that one major aspect of the Government’s Fiscal Strategy is to set a stable and steady revenue base they can trust only to fund the various Public Sector programmes.
The Mid-Term Fiscal Strategy will therefore focus on the following:-
- Decreasing dependence on CBI inflows to execute the Government’s recurrent programmes
- Presenting of tax concessions would be based on the provisions of relevant legislation governing the tax regime.
- Continuing to boost the administration of the tax system, including reviewing and enforcing the guidelines to fund taxpayer compliance and assessing and actively seeking the group of arrears to Government Revenue Agencies.
He pointed out that the Government will meet the needs of the introduction of Unemployment Benefits Legislation and re-assessing and centralizing; it is the various Social Safety Net Programmes which will help to ensure that the Programmes are sustainable and target the needy people.
The Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr Terrance Drew, added that his St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) Cabinet is looking forward to engaging with the public on these and other important matters concerning good tax governance.