Budget Day Monday - Tax reform, Property tax, likely to be in fiscal package

File: Finance Minister Larry Howai

Quotes from Finance Minister:


On Property Tax:

"The issue with what was proposed initially by the PNM was the concern that individuals had about the rate and the whole process of consultation and so on. We will do it in a way that there is appropriate consultation in terms of the rate, that is it something not inimical to the growth of business and that it is something that can be supported by homeowners generally without any significant dislocation.”


On Tax reform:

“We need to definitely tighten up the tax system and I will speak to that in the budget. Yes there are some initiatives that we will be taking and have started to take.”

On Food Security:

"The Ministry of Food Production, with agricultural land becoming less and less available in Trinidad and Tobago, is moving to establish a Food Security Facility with the Government of Guyana (which) would commit both Governments to expanding agricultural production in Guyana through the establishment of commercial relationships for funding the establishment of several large agricultural estates in Guyana.”