‘No New Taxes’ Coming In Saint Lucia Budget

Although the government is still finalising the national budget, Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Wayne Girard, has disclosed there would be no new taxes. “This year there will be no new taxes,” Girard told reporters at a press briefing. He revealed that recognising the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) administration intends to pump more cash into social programmes. The Anse La Raye-Canaries MP also said the government would further emphasise youth, sports, education, and health. “We think it is going to be a very interesting budget. There are things in my constituency that I can’t wait to announce,” Girard told reporters. He recalled that when the SLP got into office after the July 26, 2021 elections, the debt-to- GDP ratio was over one hundred percent as of December. As a result, Girard said the Philip J. Pierre administration spent the last few years lowering the figure. He noted a commitment to the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) to decrease the debt-to-GDP ratio to sixty percent by 2035. “We are just above 75 percent at the moment, and we are trending downwards,” the Minister in the Ministry of Finance declared. The article...