Amcham: Government should focus on initiatives to generate income

The American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) says government expenditure should be focused on activities and initiatives that will generate more income.

Amcham said in a release that this advice comes as it foresees a further reduction in actual income in the next six months after seeing a reduction in the in the actual versus budgeted income.

That budgeted income was expected to be $1 billion in the first six months and Amcham said the reason for the low income is because of reduced petroleum and petrochemical prices.

The release said, “The decision to accelerate VAT (Value Added Tax) refunds and announcement of an intent to clear outstanding receivables is welcomed and we hope the latter, in particular, comes to fruition.”

It said it will continue to advocate for improvements in terms of the ease of doing business and crime reduction strategies since there were no major announcements of new initiatives or projects.

Amcham said, “As always, we remain eager, willing, and ready to work with the Government to achieve positive outcomes.”

Finance Minister Colm Imbert presented the mid-year review on Wednesday in Parliament. He said the Standing Finance Committee has approved for $3.8 billion in additional funding for 22 ministries to carry out its duties till September, the end of the fiscal year.