Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced that the national budget for 2019-2020 will be presented to Parliament on July 30. Skerrit who also doubles as the Minister for Finance revealed that no new taxes will be imposed on the people of Dominica for the 20190-2020 fiscal year.
PM Skerrit revealed that his administration has managed the affairs of the country with prudence and responsibility; adding that this will continue to be the case throughout his government. This according to the prime minister is because his government takes the economic destiny of Dominicans very important.
Skerrit indicated there will be several progressive policy changes in the new budget, but that he will articulate more on these during the presentation of the budget to the people at Parliament.
According to the PM, it is necessary for Dominica to impose a new tax for revenue generation following events such as Hurricane Maria. The new stream of revenue will aid government efforts at rebuilding the nation and reconstructing hurricane-hit areas. The revenue will also bring relief to the high cost of goods and services following such natural disasters.
Disasters impose on the government the responsibility for financial interventions and structural rehabilitations among other economic improvements in society. This government responsibility necessitates a dramatic increase in expenditure to be realized.
“The government has been shouldering a very large portion of this burden,” Skerrit said. “But this government has always maintained that we will not see any new taxes being imposed on the people of Dominica in the 2019-2020 budget.” National budgets indicate the summary of the intended expenditures that the government wants to make for the incoming year, together with proposals on how to meet them. It also includes the amount of money to be allocated to each ministry and other crucial arms of government.
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