Government’s approach to budgeting for fiscal year 2021-22 has been based on a three-pronged approach: 1) The most vulnerable in the population must be protected in the face of the current challenges; 2) with the massive decline in the private economy, Government must step up to the plate with a vigorous capital works programme to keep the economy ticking; and 3) the country cannot take its hands off the wheel in significantly improving competitiveness.
Speaking on the 2021-22 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure in the House of Assembly this morning, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley explained that the Government had a constitutional obligation to prepare and present the annual “budget” by March 31 — and the fight against COVID-19 did not absolve it of that duty.
Government’s approach, she said, would not be just simply to rebuilt, but to “build forward better”, noting that it is only because of the priority given to the restructuring of the country’s local and foreign debt within days of taking office that it now has the fiscal space to tackle this crisis.
In highlighting the extent of the challenge, the country is fighting, the Prime Minister explained that while the country’s nominal GDP in the previous Estimates was $10.5 billion, in the current Estimates it is set at $8.5 billion — an unprecedented drop of almost $2 billion.
In similar vein, while last year Government raised $2.93 billion in taxes and $627.4 million in non-tax revenue, this year it is projecting $2.2 billion in tax earnings and $140.6 million under the non-tax heading. The road forward, she warned, will not be easy — but the goal is attainable.