ST JOHN’S, Antigua, Jan 20 2017 – Prime Minister Gaston Browne Friday presented an EC$1.2 billion budget to Parliament promising to negotiate new salaries for public servants and defending the economic policies of his administration.
In a presentation that was boycotted by opposition legislators, who staged a protest outside the Parliament building, Browne said his administration is projecting an EC$165 million current account surplus for fiscal year 2017, exceeding the EC$120 million outlined in the previous fiscal package.
“The anticipated increase in revenue compared to actual outturn in 2016 is based on a number of factors including further improvement in economic growth, strengthened revenue administration and enhanced tax collection,” Prime Minister Browne said.
The government also expects to yield revenue from the tax on the income of international banks and the Gambling Tax, both set to be implemented this year. Browne said that taxes, both direct and indirect, will account for about 79 percent of the revenue, while non-tax revenue will make up the remaining 21.
He told legislators that the receipts from the controversial Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) will take up a significant portion of the anticipated non-tax revenue.
“Of the EC$193million budgeted for non-tax revenue, EC$117 million represents receipts from the Citizenship by Investment Programme, while EC$30 million represents surplus funds from the Citizenship by Investment Unit operating account,” Browne said.
Browne, who is also finance Minister, said that the island had experienced economic growth of 4.3 percent) for 2016, telling Parliament that the country’s economy grew at the greatest rate of all of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries.
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