BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – EARLY September has been set as the time when the nation’s major economic players and stakeholders will meet at the discussion table with the government to address issues of the economy at this year’s National Consultation on the Economy.
The forum is expected to attract a wide cross-section of goods and services providers and policymakers from the public sector at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort to draft a plan for the short to medium term, positioning the Federation’s economy on a path to sustainable growth.
Last year’s national consultation had a concentration on youth issues with the hope that the Budget would place youth development at the core of national priorities. This year however, after a prolonged period of economic recession or worsening domestic economic conditions, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Dr. the Hon. Denzil Douglas said it is time to address the present economic challenges, including all stakeholders in the discussion.
“We believe that the measures that we instituted after the Article IV assessment by the IMF should begin to help stabilise the situation. And we are hoping therefore that the external environment improves so that our own ability to perform better will improve.
“We are very much aware that the recession has taken longer than was anticipated and we are also aware that there is a lag period for us to experience in this part of the world...That is why we are going to have the National Consultation on the Economy,” Douglas announced in his weekly radio programme ‘Ask the PM’.
No theme has been disclosed for this year’s national consultation as yet, but the Minister of Finance did announce that the discussions will be centred on the economic performance for the first half of 2010, an economic outlook for the rest of the year and the upcoming year, and matters of debt servicing.
Another area that may generate much discussion at the September 2 session is the implementation of a Value Added Tax (VAT). Since the PM’s announcement of this new tax earlier this year, there have been a number of training sessions and discussions on the matter and the upcoming consultations are expected to highlight details of it, two months ahead of the November implementation.
“Let us all participate in this very important National Consultation on the Economy where you will share your views in an environment of good governance, transparency and accountability and openly discuss the economy of SKN; be updated on the economic, fiscal and debt issues by representatives in the Ministry of Finance and Sustainable Development and also hearing from our debt consultant in terms of how we are moving to tackle the debt situation.
“We would want to be better able to share what is the status quo of the economy and what we anticipate in terms of our projections for the rest of the year,” Douglas added.
More information on the upcoming consultations is expected to be revealed closer to the date.
