PNCR presidential hopeful Dr. Faith Harding on Tuesday called on the government to address unemployment and to lower the VAT rate, a day after the 2011 National Budget was presented in the National Assembly.
She criticised the budget for not addressing those issues in a brief release to the media. “While the PPP/C is patting itself on the back, tens of thousands of Guyanese are jobless and have only the shirts on their backs,” the former PNC minister said. According to her, Guyana has the second highest unemployment in South America and needs a budget that would create jobs which this year’s own fails to do.
Dr. Harding also called for the lowering of the VAT from 16% to 10% or lower, while saying that it was “killing job growth” and “harms the neediest the most.”
At a political meeting in Queenstown, Essequibo last week she told the gathering that VAT is one of the issues that would be dealt with should she become president. Dr. Harding said that she had experts examine the VAT system and they stated that the rate could be halved. “They have advised me that it could be reduced to 8% instead of 16% and that is what my administration will do with the VAT as a taxation medium,” she stated.
