St. George's Grenada, February 12th, 2010: Members of the Opposition say they are still holding firm to the view that Grenada is not ready for the imposition of the Value Added Tax (VAT).

This was reiterated by Parliamentary Representative for Carriacou and Petite Martinique, Hon. Elvin Nimrod who led a delegation which met with the IMF’s team this week.  Nimrod said in no uncertain terms to the visitors that the Opposition in principle has no problem with VAT but believes that the Government is heartless to implement VAT at a time when the economy of Grenada is at its worst.  Moreover according to nimrod because of the lack of serious economic activities in the country the government will never realise the projected revenue the Government intend to collect from VAT.

He said at a time when unemployment rates are exceptionally higher, and when people are finding it more and more difficult to make ends meet, government should be taking more decisive steps to cushion the effects of the local crisis we now face.  Nimrod explained that the actions or lack of actions by the NDC Government is largely responsible for this situation and that their decision to impose the VAT has worsened the situation. 

The Opposition says rather than providing hope to the people in the 2010 budget, the Government in its usual attempt to mislead the people presented an unrealistic budget filled with inaccuracies and false promises.  Concerns were also raised about the government reckless actions and its new policy to expand the Public Service despite being warned by experts and the Opposition.  Members also pointed out to the IMF that the Government has already incurred close to 100 million dollars in debt despite the fact that they campaigned on debt reduction. According to Nimrod the NDC administration is accumulating debt at a much faster rate than the NNP with nothing to show for it unlike the past administration.

Among the other concerns raised by the Opposition were the inadequate allocation in the 2010 budget for the productive sectors such as Agriculture and Tourism; the lack of programmes to seriously deal with the many problems faced by the people of Grenada, particularly the poor and vulnerable.

Office of the leader of the Opposition