{"id":10315,"date":"2017-12-18T08:59:52","date_gmt":"2017-12-18T12:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=10315"},"modified":"2017-12-18T10:14:23","modified_gmt":"2017-12-18T14:14:23","slug":"economist-agrees-with-opposition-on-reduction-of-fuel-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/economist-agrees-with-opposition-on-reduction-of-fuel-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"Economist agrees with opposition on reduction of fuel prices"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Economist Petra Williams said, in order to drive consumer spending and boost economic growth, the government should lower fuel prices, an issue raised in Parliament this week by Opposition Leader Baldwin Spencer.<\/span><\/p>

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The government has temporarily reduced the 15 percent Antigua and Barbuda Sales Tax (ABST) to 5 percent and many people are expected to take advantage of the four-day reduction of the tax.<\/span><\/p>\n

This tax break is expected to boost consumer spending and spur economic growth, in an economy which some have said is not doing well.<\/span><\/p>

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Lowering prices at the pumps, according to Williams, would impact many sectors and cause a further stimulus in growth, including the transportation sector, the price of goods and the rate of electricity.<\/span><\/p>

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\u201cFor the last three years, the government has held fuel prices constant even though internationally the prices have fallen, because of course, we were in a revenue fiscal crunch and the deficit needed to be financed. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think we are at that stage where now we can further stimulate the economy if we were to look closely at the price of fuel and make a downward adjustment. I think the time is right for that,\u201d Williams said on state television.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

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The economy is poised for growth, according to the prime minister, and Williams noted with lower fuel prices we so could see increased taxes coming in from other areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

She said lowering fuel prices would be a better avenue than offering an increase to public servants because it will have a more significant impact on the economy at this time (than a wage increase).<\/span><\/p>

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Spencer had raised the point in Parliament\u00a0Tuesday<\/span><\/span>\u00a0that the price for crude oil has remained stable at $50 per barrel for the past year, and inquired whether the government intends to adjust the consumption taxes on gasoline and diesel so motorists can benefit. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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Prime Minister Gaston Browne responded by saying that there has been a reduction in the consumption tax.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said earlier this year the price margin had been reduced and added that there is no evidence that there has been an increase, but that there has been a reduction in the amount of tax going to the government\u2019s coffers.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe price remains stable so even though there was an increase up to 60 something dollars, we did not change the price. There are other countries within the region that they adjusted accordingly. So it is a form of stabilization and one can know that there is predictability and can plan accordingly than to have a situation where you change it every three months,\u201d PM Browne said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Economist Petra Williams said, in order to drive consumer spending and boost economic growth, the government should lower fuel prices, an issue raised in Parliament this week by Opposition Leader Baldwin Spencer. The government has temporarily reduced the 15 percent Antigua and Barbuda Sales Tax (ABST) to 5 percent and many people are expected to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-2","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nEconomist agrees with opposition on reduction of fuel prices - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/economist-agrees-with-opposition-on-reduction-of-fuel-prices\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Economist agrees with opposition on reduction of fuel prices\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Economist Petra Williams said, in order to drive consumer spending and boost economic growth, the government should lower fuel prices, an issue raised in Parliament this week by Opposition Leader Baldwin Spencer. 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