The Government of the Bahamas has presented its 2005/06 Budget to the House of Assembly, focusing on "matters of national strategic importance".
The House was advised that the Government intended the 2005/06 Budget to "create the conditions whereby Bahamians of all social classes can enjoy a reasonable, secure and happy standard of living, whereby families and persons in crisis can receive suitable assistance to ease their pain and their problems, and where everyone participates in the quality which we can all have.”
Primarily, the budget dealt with fiscal management, revenue reform, public expenditure management, and the 2005/06 fiscal programme. Other highlights included: the 2005/06 and medium-term economic outlook; opportunities and challenges; national information and communications framework; disaster management and recovery; and public service reform and trade issues.
As has been the case for several years, the largest source of revenues for the government will come from import and export duties, which are expected to reach $507.5 million in 2005/2006, up almost $30 million from the previous year. Stamp Tax revenues are estimated at $219 million, up by more than $35 million, while tourism taxes will be the next largest earner, with revenues estimated at $108 million in 2005/2006, an increase of $19.6 million.
Company fee revenues are expected to show a drop of $387,000 to $24.5 million. Revenues from Bank and Trust Company fees are estimated to have risen by $300,000 to $11.8 million, and Insurance Company fees are expected to rise by $286,500 to $12.2 million.
Announced at the time of the budget presentation to Parliament was the establishment of a Committee representative of all of the financial services regulatory institutions - the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank, the Registrar of Insurance, the Securities Commission, and the Registrar General - to consider options for consolidating these agencies into one or more regulatory entity.
Also referenced was the recent IMF Article IV Consultation Mission, with an indication given that the IMF Report will be published in early July following consideration by the IMF Executive Board.
Reportedly, discussions with the IMF team signalled that the Mission generally approves the policy thrust of the Government in targeting key fiscal indicators and putting in place appropriate fiscal policies to realise these indicators.
The anticipated IMF assessment is in line with the significant ratings of the Bahamian economy implied by the A3 rating of the sovereign debt of the Bahamas by Moody's, and the equivalent rating by Standard and Poor’s.
The budget is to be debated in parliament over the coming weeks.
The full text of the 2005-06 Bahamian Budget Communication can be found in the Tax News Resources section.
Network Tweets
Network BlogsContent
provided by
|
Archive | Resources | Partners | Site Map | Links | Newsletter Archive | Contact | RSS Feeds | About | Syndication | Advertising & Marketing | Recruitment | Terms & Conditions | Privacy
Copyright © 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Tax-News.com
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Tax-News.com has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage that may result from its use. In particular, users of the site are advised to take appropriate professional advice before committing themselves to involvement in offshore jurisdictions, offshore trusts or offshore investments.
Write a comment