Audley Shaw, Minister of Finance and the Public Service, listens intently to Audrey Marks, president of AmCham during the Speaker's Forum luncheon held yesterday at the Knutsford Court Hotel.- Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

Finance and Public Service Minister Audley Shaw, declaring that the country was losing billions of dollars in tax revenues, said yesterday that the recruitment of Colonel Trevor MacMillan as adviser in his ministry was a strategic move to haul tax evaders into the tax net. At the same time, he said Government remains firm on its commitment not to impose new taxes.

Mr. Shaw told members of the American Chamber of Commerce of Jamaica (AmCham) yesterday at its Speaker's Forum luncheon in New Kingston that he and tax officials have held meetings with representatives of the Institute of Chartered Accountants who provided advice on how the Government could aggressively collect more taxes.

plugging the leaks

"We don't need to raise taxes, there are enough leakages that are all over the place. I can tell you the leakages are in a number of very important areas, and we are not talking here, folks, about hundreds of millions of dollars of leakage, we are talking about multibillions of dollars of leakage," he said.

He said members of the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Bruce Golding would this weekend participate in a conference involving leaders of the private sector to discuss a wide range of policy issues,

including tax reform.

The Finance Minister said the fiscal outturn at the end of September was encouraging with revenues exceeding target by $2 billion while expenditure was $4 billion less than its original projection.

Giving an update on the proposed World Bank study on corruption in Jamaica, Mr. Shaw said he had submitted a letter to the institution, formally requesting the US$250,000 (J$17 billion) study, which the bank would conduct.

"There are some people in Jamaica that don't seem to like the idea but I believe that for us to know where we are going we must have an important benchmark study," he said.

Mr. Shaw described his recent meetings with the Inter-American Development Bank President, Luis Alberto Moreno, and the Vice-President of the World Bank Pamella Cox as "excellent".

During the discussions, Mr. Shaw said he made a case for the multilaterals to reexamine middle-income countries like Jamaica that was heavily indebted.

"They have said to me that they accept that I have put forward a credible presentation and argument for the World Bank and the IDB to take another look. In fact the World Bank went as far as to use the term, Mr. Shaw we are prepared to look at creative financial tools to work with you in partnership," he said.

He said the International Monetary Fund had agreed to host a Caribbean investment conference in Jamaica between May and June next year.

The Minister disclosed that an investor had pledged not only to take over the ailing sugar industry, but said he would also acquire the debt associated with it.

"This one is music to my ear isn't that sweet music," Shaw added.