GUEST COMMENTARY: BY PHILIP “BRAVE” DAVIS
(EDITOR’S NOTE: We decided to share this statement by Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis that was posted on the PLP website as a Guest Commentary for readers of BAHAMAS CHRONICLE because it raises some very pertinent issues that should be of grave concern to the Bahamian electorate.)
NASSAU, Bahamas — Economists, business owners, financial experts and the man in the street all agree: we’re a nation in crisis. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance is more focused on his re-election than the state of the nation’s finances.
Minnis has borrowed more than two billion dollars a year and has only sidewalks and election-time give-aways to show for it.
His budget offered paralysis instead of progress. He has no plan to manage the $10 billion debt he has accumulated and no strategy for economic growth, and therefore lenders are not buying what this government is selling.
As to what he’ll do next — before Dorian, before COVID, he already showed us who he is. He imposed a shock 60% increase in VAT, with no accompanying rise in the minimum wage, and at the same time gave tax breaks to the wealthy and well-connected. He gave VAT breaks to multinational corporations in Grand Bahama and reduced business license fees for businesses with more than $50 million in sales.
While countries across the world last year lowered VAT to help people and businesses weather the harm from COVID, this government kept taxes high for the people but kept tax breaks for the wealthy in place.
We know exactly who he thinks should bear the tax burden in this country.
And now he’s saying in his NEXT term, he’ll look after the poor.
He think people fool.
