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11TH MARCH 2005
MEDIA RELEASE
Private Sector Commission’s Statement on 2005 Budget

The Private Sector Commission regrets that the Minister of Finance did not find it possible to accommodate in the 2005 Budget any of the recommendations the Commission or its member organisations have made over the past several years.

The PSC is concerned that the current policies pursued are not delivering the results necessary for the country’s growth and development and considers a growth rate of 0.6% over the past five years as statistically insignificant. We therefore reiterate our call for a review of the current economic strategy and the development of one that is more indigenous and likely to lead to growth and development. We regard as particularly troubling the refusal to increase the threshold for the personal income tax and believe that this contributes to the low morale and poor productivity of the workers.

There is a critical need for meaningful measures to attract investment and for enhanced job creation. The failure of the Government to convene the Investors Conference announced in the 2004 Budget or to address concerns about the impact of drugs, money laundering and tax evasion are further causes of disappointment.

The PSC welcomes the announcement by the Minister that he would be presenting a Supplementary Budget to take account of the economic impact of the Floods. The PSC is writing the Minister to ascertain his timetable for meaningful and participatory consultations in that exercise and to ask for the release of the 2003 Census Report which is crucial to planning both at the national as well as the enterprise level.

The PSC has also written to its constituent bodies requesting them to submit their proposals for inclusion in the Supplementary Budget.