Gov’t, PSC differ on economy performance

May 07, 2017 News

Amid concerns raised by the Private Sector Commission (PSC) over issues which they feel are negatively impacting the economy, the government has a different view.
The Commission met Tuesday last with The Right Honourable Baroness Anelay, Minister of State of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom (UK) and Member of the UK House of Lords.
The dignitary, along with the British High Commissioner Greg Quinn and other officials, met the PSC. The commission said that it took the opportunity of discussing a number of issues of concern and of national interest.
Also included in the discussion, the PSC said, was the apparent decline in the local economy which they opined, has been caused partly by a fall in commodity prices but exacerbated by excessive taxation and a lack of confidence on the part of investors.
The Private Sector Commission also mentioned the “uncertainty” surrounding the fate of sugar and the need to have British help to maintain good governance in the country.
State Minister Joseph Harmon, during the post-Cabinet press briefings, was asked about Government’s take on the utterances made by the PSC as it relates to “excessive taxation and the lack of investor confidence”.
He replied: “The PSC is an independent body The PSC may look at things from a certain perspective and it’s up to them to determine what they see.
From a government’s perspective we believe that significant progress has been made in these areas that they are complaining about and we embrace the Private Sector Commission to move forward on these issues which they have raised.”
Harmon said that “the British Minister will not come here and solve our problems.”
“We have to solve our problems ourselves. We have to work together to solve the problems of this country. I am saying again that we are open; we are embracing the Private Sector Commission so that we can engage in a factual way on some of the perceptions which are out there so that we can correct the perceptions with the provision of accurate information,” Harmon said.
The Minister noted also that in the coming weeks, there will be presentations by government ministers to highlight specific things being done in their ministries. This, he explained, will be done to keep the populace informed of the projects being undertaken by the government.
This will also be done to aid the populace in judging the coalition A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC)’s two-year performance in office.

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