Davies not convinced JLP admin will use Opposition

[Karl]

Davies not convinced JLP admin will use Opposition suggestions

Published: Sunday | May 3, 2009






Davies

Former finance minister Dr Omar Davies is apparently not very optimistic that the Government will take on board proposals made by the Opposition in its contribution to the Budget Debate.

Davies, in his presentation last week, suggested a raft of ways in which Government could tweak its Budget.

However, when asked by The Sunday Gleaner on Friday if he was committed to working with the Government to develop the country, Davies was non-committal.
"I don't know what work with Government means. If it means that any proposal you put forward, they explain why it can't be done ... I am not looking a job," he said.

"I do not know ever before that an Opposition has sought to provide an administration with so much help in terms of structuring the Budget," Davies added.

The Opposition proposed, among other things, an increase in the tax on interests on government bonds from 25 per cent to 33 per cent. Davies said that the move could net up to $8 billion.

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[Lazie]

Gov't rejects Opposition's proposals
Published: Monday | May 4, 2009


Mark Titus, Staff Reporter
Minister of Finance and Public Service Audley Shaw says the Government will not accept the proposals made by the Opposition to reduce the national Budget.

Among the suggestions is an increase in the tax on interests on government bonds from 25 per cent to 33 per cent, first made by the People's National Party Youth Organisation (PNPYO) and endorsed by Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller and her spokesman on finance, Dr Omar Davies.

The move, Davies has said, could net up to $8 billion and reduce the need for an $8.75 special-consumption tax on fuel.

However, speaking at Mayberry Investment's monthly forum last Thursday, the minister said such a move would affect the pensioners as well as ordinary Jamaicans "who have savings wrapped up in government paper".

"We cannot, in this fragile environment that we are now operating, be changing the rules, midstream, on those who are expecting a certain level of returns."

Such an act could result in shareholders investing in bonds in other countries, which could lead to capital flight in Jamaica, the finance minister argued.

Right direction

According to Shaw, the country is going in the right direction as talks with the private sector to begin a phased reduction of the interest rates are paying off.

"The short term on instruments is now 19.8 per cent, we cannot be erratic; we cannot reach 12 per cent overnight."

Responding to Davies's criticism that the differential between the interest and inflation rate is due to a lack of confidence in the Government, Shaw argued that if this was the case the imposition of additional taxes on our bond holders would not assist.

The minister attributed the suggestions from Damion Crawford, head of the PNPYO, to youthful exuberance, but chastised Simpson Miller and Davies - both of whom, he said, were aware of the reality of the situation, for supporting the ideas.

Among the suggestions made by the PNPYO is a charge of 15 per cent tax on dividends, collecting the outstanding $8 billion in GCT, increasing all sin taxes, and signing a memorandum of understanding with hotels whereby only those that consume 60 per cent of their total purchases in Jamaican products can receive the half GCT waiver, which could generate a total of $19.3 billion.

mark.titus@gleanerjm.com

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean...business2.html

[Mosiah]

[b]
The minister attributed the suggestions from Damion Crawford, head of the PNPYO, to youthful exuberance...

The finance minister strikes me as petty, trite and dunce. Would love if he could raise the level, but...

[Lazie]

I think the proposal of using funds from the TEF and the UAF should be given some consideration. I see where Mosiah has indicated that those monies should be used for the reason the funds were implemented and I'm certain there are others out there that support that view. That said, I think it should be given some consideration.

[Mosiah]

I think the proposal of using funds from the TEF and the UAF should be given some consideration. I see where Mosiah has indicated that those monies should be used for the reason the funds were implemented and I'm certain there are others out there that support that view. That said, I think it should be given some consideration.

What I was really saying is, use them for their intended purposes first. I don't have a problem siphoning them off elsewhere after that, if there is a surplus. But it makes no sense we have a TEF when many of our tourist areas look like hell!

[Willi]

100% agree.

[Muadib]

Omar is no longer the Finance Minister.. seems strange after all these years but just keep repeating it...

[Muadib]

I love the new awakening...

After years on this forum I thought people were just dense.. I wonder what has sparked these revelations...

Imagine using taxes for their intended purposes BEFORE syphoning...

LOL !!

What wi call it ?.. oh.. New Dispensation...

Change is good.

[Mosiah]

But unnu had a problem with the govt. dipping into NHT funds.

Change really good!

[Lazie]

But unnu had a problem with the govt. dipping into NHT funds.

Change really good!

Expected someone to come with this... was there a financial crisis then?

[Mosiah]

You tell me!

[Muadib]

There certainly was.. self-created....

Vicious cycle.. glad we are finally out of it...