PM Tells Chamber No Can Do on Lowering High Fuel Taxes

Prime Minister Dean Barrow has written a terse letter to the Chamber of Commerce in response to their concerns on the crippling fuel prices. He tells them that there is no chance that fuel taxes will go down. On June twelfth, the Chamber made the point that government’s take on the prices of fuel is too steep and needs to be brought down.  In the letter to Chamber’s President, Nikita Usher, the PM agrees to meet with the chamber, but would first like to have an idea as to the solutions envisioned, which he predicts will have no success. The PM writes that any significant reduction in fuel taxes will immediately blow huge holes in Government’s budget.  As to the suggestion of a rollback in the fuel taxes from the May 2018 to the May 2016 levels, the PM says that will trigger a drop in annual revenue of about fifty-two point five million dollars. Then he proposes that to make up for the reduction, G.O.B. would have to look elsewhere such as to increase GST rate from twelve point five percent to fifteen percent, increase Environmental Tax from three percent to seven percent, or increase Business Tax from two point five percent to three point seven five percent. This, he points out, would be harder on the consumer and the private sector. The PM further argues that to reduce excise taxes would mean there will be no funding for various small ministries as well as for the Office of the Prime Minister.  Alternatively, G.O.B. would terminate public officers en masse, cut their salaries or reduce pensions. All being said, he points out that there is a zero chance of success in the Chamber’s proposal to reduce the fuel tax.