{"id":266335,"date":"2026-02-05T10:19:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T14:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=266335"},"modified":"2026-02-05T10:19:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T14:19:18","slug":"government-says-abst-cut-aims-to-ease-cost-pressures-despite-imf-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-abst-cut-aims-to-ease-cost-pressures-despite-imf-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"Government says ABST cut aims to ease cost pressures despite IMF concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Government says ABST cut aims to ease cost pressures despite IMF concerns<\/strong><\/p>

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The government says a planned temporary reduction in the Antigua and Barbuda Sales Tax from 17% to 7% is intended to provide targeted relief to households facing rising costs, even as the International Monetary Fund<\/strong> has raised concerns about the measure, Director General of Communications Maurice Merchant said Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merchant acknowledged the IMF\u2019s position during the post-Cabinet press briefing, while defending the government\u2019s approach.<\/p>

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\u201cWe do understand the concerns of the IMF and the government understands the concerns of the people,\u201d Merchant said.<\/p>

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He said the administration views the temporary tax reduction as a response to hardship caused by imported inflation, noting that Antigua and Barbuda relies heavily on imports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne way of addressing the concerns of the hardship being faced by our people, through the importation of inflation, due to the high prices on the international market \u2014 and we import 90-plus percent of all goods \u2014 there is the need for some relief,\u201d he said.<\/p>

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Merchant said the reduction is expected to take effect between the second and third quarters of the year, likely between June and August, and will be limited in scope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is going to be specific to the purchase of school-related items and food products,\u201d he said, adding that the ABST on those items would be reduced \u201cdown to 7%.\u201d<\/p>

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He said the government believes the temporary measure strikes a balance between easing cost pressures on families and maintaining fiscal discipline.<\/p>

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Government says ABST cut aims to ease cost pressures despite IMF concerns The government says a planned temporary reduction in the Antigua and Barbuda Sales Tax from 17% to 7% is intended to provide targeted relief to households facing rising costs, even as the International Monetary Fund has raised concerns about the measure, Director General […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":258867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-266335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment says ABST cut aims to ease cost pressures despite IMF concerns - 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\" 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