Wehby wants Golding to outline funding plan for $3 million income tax threshold proposal

Government Senator Don Wehby has called for Opposition Leader Mark Golding to explain how his proposal to increase the income tax threshold to $3 million per annum would be funded.

Debating the Appropriations Bill in the Senate on Wednesday, Wehby noted that the sum to finance the Opposition leader's proposal was approximately $45 billion.

He indicated that with the gains that the country has made through sound fiscal management of the economy the proposal by the Opposition demands scrutiny.

Discussing the possible ways that the Opposition's proposal could be funded, Wehby suggested that the country would either have to print money, borrow or run a budget deficit.

He said that the country could not go back to the Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC) era where interest rates were as high as 60 per cent.

Wehby said that the Government has committed to the attainment of the revised debt to gross domestic product (GDP) target of 60 per cent by 2027/28.

He pointed out that at the end of March 2024, the ratio will be 72 per cent. “This is a significant achievement when we look at where we are coming from. The debt to GDP ratio reached a high of 232 per cent in 1991,” he added.

However, while listing a string of macro-economic achievements by the Government, Wehby conceded that many Jamaicans were not feeling the full impact owing to the current level of inflation which he said was now at seven per cent.

He noted that the inflation problem was not confined to Jamaica but was having similar negative impacts across the world.

Follow The Gleaner on X and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.