Back to Press Page

16TH JANUARY 2006
MEDIA RELEASE
Meeting with the President

The Private Sector Commission (PSC) was invited to meet with the President on Monday 16th January for consultations on the Budget for 2006. The letter of invitation indicated that the consultations were “an important aspect” of the process of Budget preparation.

The Private Sector has raised with government its concern that these consultations have, in the past, proved to be counterproductive as the views of the sector have seldom found expression in the Budget.

The President advised the meeting that government was not in favour of ad hoc consultations and preferred the process of ongoing and continuous consultations with the Private Sector through the Enhancing National Competitiveness Strategy Programme which embraces all the issues of economic development and is expressly focused on a partnership between government and the Private Sector. The Private Sector Commission concurred with this point of view and welcomed the assurances given by the President. Both sides expressed its full commitment to this programme.

The PSC questioned the proposed July implementation date of the Value Added Tax (VAT) and Excise Legislation and were told by the President that Government have decided to postpone the implementation until January 2007. In its prior submission to government, the PSC, while expressing its support for the introduction of VAT, had urged the postponement of its introduction for further consideration and evaluation.

The President stated that he would brief the sector on the economic framework upon which the Budget is based and on the current state of the economy. He explained that the country’s economy had been severely stressed by the floods in the early part of the year and that agricultural production, especially sugar and rice, had been seriously affected. The President told the meeting that it was, nevertheless, heartening that the country’s economy had benefited from significant growth in other sectors enabling the country to meet its economic targets and sustain its fundamental economic projections. The President said that the Budget would be based on these considerations.

Members of the Private Sector were able to share their views on the way forward with the President. The PSC welcomed the government’s commitment to building a partnership for development through ongoing consultations with the Private Sector and looks forward to the opportunity for increased private sector investment and growth.