Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter
SHAW
OPPOSITION SPOKESMAN on Finance Audley Shaw is again accusing the Government of neglecting to present the real National Budget.
Mr. Shaw was responding yesterday to the announcement by Dr. Omar Davies, Minister of Finance and Planning, that there would be no new taxes to finance the Government's $358 billion budget for the 2006/07 fiscal year.
"After listening to the Minister of Finance, I maintain the position that I took earlier at the time of the tabling of the Estimates of Expenditure that this is not the real budget," Shaw told The Gleaner yesterday.
The Opposition finance spokesman warned that the nation would face the real budget when the Supplementary Estimates are tabled later this year.
Mr. Shaw said the revenue expectations were unrealistic.
"The 20 per cent increase in revenue, despite the measures that he (Davies) insists that he will be taking, against a background where there are no real signs of how we are going to achieve significant additional incremental growth is very unrealistic," said Mr. Shaw.
Reacting to the announcement by Dr. Davies that the budget will be funded through the borrowing of $136 billion, Mr. Shaw said this was unacceptable.
"That is set against a background where you are borrowing $136 billion to add on to the $847 billion that the stock of debt has now reached and when you combine this with other multilateral debts that are not officially listed in the stock of debt, this means that at the end of this fiscal year we will have gone over the trillion dollar mark," he added.
Mr. Shaw said he was also disappointed that the budget offered nothing for small farmers or unemployed young persons.
"In my view, this is not an inspiring budget."
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller was however peeved at the reaction of the Opposition.
"The Minister of Finance made his presentation this (yesterday) evening, I don't know why there should be some complaints," she said.
Responding to suggestions that the budget was an "election budget", Mrs. Simpson Miller said: "What election! Did I announce an election...the Opposition wanted us to tax the people?"
