NASSAU, BAHAMAS — With two months left in the fiscal year, the government continues to see strong revenue performance, according to Economic Affairs Minister Michael Halkitis.
He revealed that government revenues currently stand at $1.8 billion, which is 78 percent of its revenue target, at an Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) weekly press conference yesterday.
Halkitis said: “Revenue continues to perform well. We are at $1.8 billion which is 78 percent of the target. By June we want to get to 100 percent. At the end of March, we were at 78 percent so we are slightly ahead. We are trending ahead in terms of revenue.”
Halkitis noted that government expenditure is slightly down- some three percent – at just under $345 million for the first nine months. We had forecasted $850 for the entire year so we are keeping a fairly good reign on expenditure.
The Economic Affairs minister noted that despite reducing Value-Added Tax (VAT) from 12 to 10 percent this year, the government’s VAT intake has not seen a significant drop-off and has in fact seen some increases.
“For the first three months, we are actually trending ahead even as far back as 2019.”
The government will release its third-quarter fiscal performance report next week, Halkitis noted.
The government is expected to present its budget for the fiscal year 2022/2023 on May 25th.
