Nothing ruled out in budget cuts, says Antigua's finance minister
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| Published on Thursday, October 29, 2009 |
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ST JOHN'S, Antigua -- There is a case to be made for rationalising the number of Antigua and Barbuda’s foreign diplomatic missions, says Minister of Finance, the Economy and Public Administration, Harold Lovell.
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| Harold Lovell |
The Minister was agreeing with a suggestion from a member of the financial services community at a meeting held on Monday 26 October to discuss the government’s Fiscal Consolidation Programme.
The Minister said the intention was to cut the budget for such missions by $8m, and in so doing the administration would have to look at reducing the number of embassies.
Responding to a query about how he planned to increase ABST compliance, Lovell advised the meeting of the revenue reform effort headed by former banker Everett Christian, and said that nothing was being ruled out, including what he called the Wesley Snipes Effect. In April 2008 the popular American movie star was given a three year prison sentence after being found guilty of income tax evasion.
Monday’s meeting was attended by representatives of commercial banks, insurance companies and credit unions.
Also on Monday, discussions of a similar nature were held with trade unions and with social groups and representatives of the taxi and bus associations.
The consultations continued on Wednesday with stakeholders from the private sector and tourism industry. | | | | Reads : 523 | | | |
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