The following was sent to the Nation Newspaper by Minister Donville Inniss
Reference is made to an article appearing in your Nation Newspaper today which relates to matters before the Parliament of Barbados (Order Paper).
Under the caption on Page 5 Govt Seeking to raise record $4B, you state, “When the House of Assembly returns from the Easter recess today at 10am, Government will be seeking to raise the highest amount of money ever – a record $4 billion – through the issue of Treasury Bills and tax certificates which is almost double the current level set two years ago.”
This is an erroneous statement. I am not sure if the error is due to the contents of the Order Paper or due to your newspaper misunderstanding of the laws of Barbados. However, by way of clarification, the Government is seeking Parliament’s approval to raise the loan limit to $4b (as opposed to borrowing $4billion).
Section 2(1) of the Treasury Bills and Tax Certificates Act, Cap 106 gives the Minister of Finance the authority, subject to Parliament’s approval, to raise sums not exceeding the amount specified in the relevant resolution by the issue of treasury bills and tax reserve certificates and tax refund certificates. Such monies raised via this mechanism may also be used to pay off bills issued and outstanding.
Now whilst the abovementioned quote may be excusable, the following comment in said article is perhaps a deep reflection of mischief seeking to outpace commonsense along the racetrack of intellectual competence.
“and with proposed amendments to the electronic Transactions Act also on the Order Paper, there are indications that the cash trapped Government may not be able to pay people eligible for tax refunds in cash but may do so with tax certificates.”
Perhaps had your writer taken the time out to ask a question or to do some basic research then the conclusion drawn in statement above, would not have surfaced. Perhaps my not-yet-conceived grandchild, is more appreciative of the fact that the Electronic Transactions Act amendments helps to create a better platform for e-commerce and the greater use of ET to help transform this economy by enhancing administrative matters related to said Act.
To take these two pieces of matters before Parliament and conclude that the Government is cash trapped and is looking to provide tax refunds via tax certificates and not cash, is absolutely erroneous.
I am particularly disturbed by your article because your media house sometimes seems oblivious of how far and wide your comments reach and how others use the information contained therein informs decisions elsewhere which may impact upon our island.
This article was drawn to my attention earlier today by a potential investor from Europe, who called this morning to say that based on these two paragraphs, his firm is re-looking the Barbados option. I have sought to allay his concerns by pointing out the errors. Not sure how many others out there are guided by the errors of some of your articles.
By way of charting a way forward, I make myself available to explain any item on the Order Paper of Parliament and to help clarify any concerns you may have.
Regards
Donville Inniss MP
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