Financial Secretary, Rasona Davis-Crump is pleased with the latest appraisal of the
Antigua and Barbuda economy by the International Monetary Fund, which gave
the government high marks for its handling of the economy, however, she says
there is still work to be done.
Davis-Crump gave her assessment of the IMF Article 4 review conducted in
January this year, in an interview with Point Express newspaper.
“Generally, the IMF’s report provides a comprehensive and fair assessment of the
state of Antigua and Barbuda’s economy. It highlighted the positive outcomes for
several key economic indicators and reinforced the Ministry’s perspectives on the
major macroeconomic challenges we currently face. While we are pleased with
the outcome of the Article IV consultations and the resulting staff report, there is
still work to be done to better align revenue performance with the level of
economic expansion,” she observed.
The Financial Secretary was asked to comment on steps being taken to address
some of the weaknesses highlighted by the IMF.
“The 2024 Budget presentation included a number of measures that are intended to
build fiscal resilience. These measures form part of the Medium-Term Fiscal
Strategy and focus mainly on enhancing revenue performance, improving
expenditure management, and reducing arrears. Other interventions include
strengthening social programs, better targeting of subsidies, strengthening
regulatory oversight of systemically important financial institutions, and
supporting initiatives to increase MSMEs’ access to credit,” Davis Crump
explained.
She further explained that there are several measures being implemented to ensure
that the positive growth rate forecast by the IMF for 2023 continue into 2024 and
beyond.
“The Prime Minister would have announced several private and public sector
projects that are ongoing or will start in 2024. Government will continue to pursue
investment- enabling policies, to include concessions during the construction phase
of these projects. Additionally, with improved revenue performance, Government
will be better positioned to execute critical infrastructure development projects
which will be important drivers for economic expansion. Other projects and events
such as the UWI Five Islands Campus expansion project, the SIDs Conference,
ICC T20 World Cup are expected to positively impact on GDP growth in 2024 and
into the short to medium term,” she noted.
The Financial Secretary also addressed public concerns that the recent two percent
increase in ABST will trigger another round of inflationary increases.
“The concerns about the impact of the increase in the ABST from 15% to 17% on
prices is understandable. The Government, through the Prices and Consumer
Affairs Department is closely monitoring the implementation of the increased
ABST rate to ensure that retailers are not using the change as an opportunity to
indiscriminately increase prices. The Ministry of Finance will work along with the
Prices and Consumer Affairs Department and other relevant stakeholders to
increase surveillance and reporting on price levels,” she stated.
Additionally, Davis-Crump added that the basket of ABST zero-rated items is
under review and recommendations will be made to adjust the list of goods where
appropriate. It should be noted, however, that outside of price-gouging, any major
increase in inflation will be due to adverse changes in international price levels
rather than domestic changes in taxes.