Shaw fires back - Finance ministry defends Budget in face of Opposition criticisms
Published: Saturday | April 25, 2009
Shaw
Finance Minister Audley Shaw has scoffed at claims by the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) that his Budget presentation was off the mark.
"The minister stated that the Budget was based on two imperatives, fiscal responsibility and equity - neither of which has been met based on the content of his presentation or by the imposition of the biggest tax package in the country's history," the Opposition said on Thursday after completing its initial assessment of the finance minister's statement.
But Shaw dismissed those claims yesterday, arguing that the PNP's response was hurriedly put together and done in panic.
"It is an erratic statement that has no foundation whatsoever," Shaw declared.
Fiscal irresponsibility
He accepted that his $18 billion tax package was the largest in the country's history but pointed out that former Finance Minister Dr Omar Davies had produced a $14.2-billion tax package in 2003.
"That was a 'run-with-it' tax package. That was a tax package for which nothing was offered to the people of Jamaica outside of plugging a hole that was due primarily to fiscal irrespon-sibility," Shaw contended.
He said this time around, he had to craft a tax package to deal with a global economic crisis.
"We have not just put the tax on, but we have embraced the opportunity to embark on fundamental changes to the tax system," Shaw added.
The finance minister also rejected criticism from Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller that his presentation was short on measures to assist the poorest and most vulnerable.
"It has become a favourite, if not overused, claim of the PNP that we are not doing anything for the poor. The poor people of Jamaica know better than that," said Shaw.
He pointed to the measures, such as what he termed the enhancement of education with the abolition of tuition fees in secondary schools, the expansion in the school-feeding programme and the additions to the Programme for Advancement Through Health and Education programme, as evidence that the Government was looking out for the poor.
