Minister wants bigger budget for tourism

The budget for the financial year 2008-2009 is to be presented on July fourteenth, and already there are murmurings of displeasure among government ministers. Delayed because of the February seventh elections, the first budget to be presented by the Barrow administration is expected to be lean, mean and free of new taxes. Minister of Tourism, Manuel Heredia Jr, speaking from his hometown today with News Five’s Marion Ali, voiced his displeasure with the sliver of the pie expected for his Ministry.

Manuel Heredia, Minister of Tourism
“I will be very fair. There is more that I wanted but we have a limited amount of financing in our budget and I feel that the technical people in finance, after consultation with all the different ministries, with other people from the private sector, I think that the prime minister is making the best of what we have.”

Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries that generates a huge chunk of foreign exchange.