Grenada Government Reporting Increased Revenue For First Six Months Of 2019

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, July 31, 2019, (CMC) – The Grenada government, disclosed, yesterday, that it had recorded a nearly four percent increase in revenue, for the first half of this year, when compared to the same period, last year.

“The total revenue for the first half of the year is almost EC$390 million, which is 3.4 percent more than what was collected for the first half of 2018, and if the revenue is showing (an) increase, it means that the economic activities has increased, unless we got a windfall, and that has not happened,” Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell, told reporters at the weekly post-cabinet news conference.

The prime minister said that the positive results came, despite data from the Ministry of Finance, through its fiscal summary reports, indicating that during the months of March and June, government received less than expected in revenue collection.

The report shows that current revenue for January 2019 was EC$65 million, which was EC$1.5 million above the target, while the figure for February was EC$59.3 million, an increase of EC$1.8 million.

Current revenue for March 2019 was $67.2 million, EC$6.8 million less than the target, the Ministry of Finance report noted, adding that the current revenue for April was EC$70.4 million, an increase of EC$6.1 million, while for the month of May, the current revenue was EC$67.9 million, reflecting a three million dollar increase.

The current revenue for June was EC$60.3 million, an EC$3.2 million less than the target, and Mitchell, who is Minister for Finance, said that the public debt had fallen by more than half, since his administration had returned to power in 2013.

“In 2008 the public debt was more 110 percent of GDP (gross domestic product), now it’s 61 percent, so there is a tremendous drop, and that is been lauded by international organisations,” said Mitchell, adding that unemployment had fallen to below 17 percent

“Today the guaranteed debt stood and at 59.5 percent of GDP, which is EC$1.924 billion dollars, which marks a decrease of 4.4 percent from the same period in 2018, where the public debt was recorded at 63.9 percent of GDP, which was then EC$2.0215 billion,” he told reporters.

Prime Minister Mitchell said that private sector development is one of the key factors driving economic activities, here, and noted that within the coming years, more than 700 hotel rooms will be added to the island’s hotel room stock, through new investment and expansion of existing properties.