Mark Espat believes taxes are about to go way up!

Mark Espat

As part of the Treasury Amendment, the government is increasing the duration of treasury notes from five to ten years.  Espat says that the U.D.P. criticized the PUP for extending the life of the foreign commercial debt and now the U.D.P. government is guilty of doing the same thing. He thinks that the long term treasury notes are one of the futile ways in which the government intends to fill the shortfall in the budget.  But treasury notes will barely be a drop in the bucket.  Where will the bulk of the sixty million dollars deficit come from? Espat believes it will come from increases in taxes.

Mark Espat, Deputy Leader of the Opposition

“It seems almost certain there will be further tax increases.  You will recall that the last budget included somewhere between a thirty and a forty million dollar tax hike in the tax paid at the fuel pump and it seems for certain that this year there will be other tax increases; possibly we’re hearing the general sales tax will be increased. That would be a catastrophe. It was only a few weeks ago that the most recent poverty report showed that forty-three percent of Belizeans are mired, bogged down in poverty.  Will tax increases help or hurt these people? The answer clearly is that it will hurt them. We would have expected that when you are in a recession, as you see this all over the world, it is a time to reduce not to increase taxes.  If you increase taxes when there is a recession, you will not get what you are hoping to get because businesses will continue to contract and so certainly the position of the People’s United Party will be to oppose any tax increases. We believe one of the measures the government will take will be to simply cut back on capital investments that the promised in the last budget. That’s no answer. There is a lack of creativity, a lack of vision, a lack of answers to these pressing problems and I believe we will see that void when the budget is read on Monday. Any tax increase places an immediate debilitating effect on the entire population. What happens to those who are just above the poverty that line are what we call just a step away from poverty, are what we call a step away from poverty, a simple increase in taxes can plunge them into the ranks of the poor.”

Prime Minister Barrow is on the record promising to keep gasoline at or below seven dollars and diesel below six dollars per gallon. Our last check at the gas stations indicates that prices were well over nine dollars and close to the ten dollar.