No new taxes to fund 2025/26 budget, says PM

By Lorraine Walker   

 

Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness has declared that there will be no new taxes to fund the upcoming 2025/2026 budget. 

 

He made the announcement Tuesday afternoon at the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Expansion of Grand Palladium Hotels & Resorts in Hanover.

 

Finance Minister Fayval Williams will tell the country how the government plans to fund its $1.26 trillion budget when she opens the budget debate in the House of Representatives on March 11.

 

Dr. Holness argues that the government has created the fiscal stability to ensure Jamaica remains on a firm growth trajectory. 

 

"This government has run the economy in the right way, and there is no question that the Jamaican economy is going in the right direction. Our credit ratings are at their highest levels ever. We are just three upgrades away from investment grade status...and when our debt goes below 60%, we will improve in our ratings," he touted. 

 

After 57 consecutive years of deficits since 1966, Dr. Holness boasted that Jamaica has achieved a balance of payment surplus on its current account for the last two fiscal years. 

 

Speaking in Parliament as he opened the budget debate on March 12 last year, then Finance Minister, Dr. Nigel Clarke, said it was the seventh consecutive year in which the government has introduced no new taxes.

 

In the meantime, Prime Minister Holness has expressed confidence that the economy will return to growth.

 

The PIOJ is forecasting a decline in gross domestic product (GDP) for the quarter ending December last year, which would mark two consecutive quarters of decline in output. 

 

"We recorded 12 consecutive quarters of economic growth after the pandemic before we were hit by Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Rafael in the same year. And after the temporary setback, I'm certain, I'm confident that we will return to growth. And I say that because the signs are there. Business and consumer confidence are both on the rise," he noted.