Govt Explains Slow Pace Of Economic Growth

Government has reacted to the Center for Policy Analysis (CEPA) report on the economy, which said the tempo of economic activity, has slowed down considerably. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning says the slow tempo in the first quarter of the year was seasonal and expected.

Referring to CEPA’s analysis that targets for domestic taxes were not achieved, the Ministry says provisional reconciled date for the first half of this year shows that actual collections of domestic taxes were slightly higher than 2 percent than programmed but just below the budgeted amount after adjusting for inflation.

The ministry says domestic tax revenues actually performed better in the 2nd quarter than the first quarter. Collections for the second quarter are said to be about 6 percent higher than the programmed amounts.

The shortfall in the first quarter is being partly attributed to a 90 percent average increase in the price of petroleum products in mid January. The Finance Ministry concludes from its analysis that the tempo of economic activity and mainly on the basis of domestic tax revenue can be misleading because they exclude performance in the agricultural sector, which is largely informal and generally outside the tax net.

Government has reacted to the Center for Policy Analysis (CEPA) report on the economy, which said the tempo of economic activity, has slowed down considerably. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning says the slow tempo in the first quarter of the year was seasonal and expected.

Referring to CEPA’s analysis that targets for domestic taxes were not achieved, the Ministry says provisional reconciled date for the first half of this year shows that actual collections of domestic taxes were slightly higher than 2 percent than programmed but just below the budgeted amount after adjusting for inflation.

The ministry says domestic tax revenues actually performed better in the 2nd quarter than the first quarter. Collections for the second quarter are said to be about 6 percent higher than the programmed amounts.

The shortfall in the first quarter is being partly attributed to a 90 percent average increase in the price of petroleum products in mid January. The Finance Ministry concludes from its analysis that the tempo of economic activity and mainly on the basis of domestic tax revenue can be misleading because they exclude performance in the agricultural sector, which is largely informal and generally outside the tax net.