ST. LUCIA-BUDGET- Prime Minister to outline medium to long term fiscal strategy in first budget speech

CASTRIES, St Lucia, May 9, CMC —Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Allen Chastanet will on Tuesday table the Appropriation Bill 2017/2018 and deliver the 2017/2018 Budget.
In what will be his first Budget presentation, Chastanet will present a roadmap for the country and focus on the implementation of programmes, projects and policies to “Build a New Saint Lucia.”
“He will lay out the Government’s specific plans for this year as well as the strategic priority areas for the next four years including Creating Sustainable Employment, Social Reengineering, Tourism, Agriculture, Security and Justice, Energy and Climate Change”, said a release from his office.
Last month, during a debate on the estimates of expenditure, the Government announced an expanded capital programme in support of stimulating economic activity.
During his summary on the Estimates the Prime Minister proposed expenditure amounting to $1.513 billion dollars.
In his address Chastanet will outline the medium to long term fiscal strategy which includes the announcement of tax reforms.
Notably, the Government has already announced increased injection of capital into agriculture, infrastructure and social programmes.
The Debate on the Appropriation Bill will continue for the remainder of this week.