–Dr. Jagdeo says; rejects APNU’s claim that private sector withheld support from Granger administration

PEOPLE’S Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has sharply criticised the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) for blaming the private sector for their economic underperformance when they along with the Alliance For Change (AFC) were in office from 2015-2020.

Dr. Jagdeo during a press conference on Thursday at Freedom House called out the previous coalition administration for increasing taxes in spite of their promise to reduce them, noting that the policy environment they created was not feasible.

“So, if a miner has to buy an excavator now, he has to pay five million dollars more in taxes than he didn’t have to pay before under the PPP. Don’t you think that the miners are going to slow down on investing? It’s only logical. It’s not withholding support. It is responding to the environment,” Dr. Jagdeo said.

Last week, Norton supported APNU candidate attorney-at-law Dexter Todd’s sentiments that it is the private sector’s fault that the APNU+AFC administration failed to deliver on most of its promises while in office from 2015-2020 and instead implemented draconian taxes.

Todd during a public meeting told the small crowd that the APNU+AFC was undermined by the business community since those who “own the businesses and have the economic power” were not aligned with the APNU+AFC.

“When Granger took over under the APNU+AFC in 2015, it was easy for them to set the stage for David Granger and the APNU+AFC to fail,” he said.

Todd further stated: “They shut down the economic activities in this country. So, the only thing that remained was taxes to run this country. And that is why when you see that the APNU… wanted to give public servants more and you wanted to do more in terms of infrastructure. One of the things that you had to go back to was to see if you could get a little more tax money.”

The previous APNU+AFC administration, however, has faced much criticism for its performance in office, especially for the stagnation of the local economy.

The APNU+AFC implemented hundreds of taxes and fees, including: 14 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on electricity and water, mobile internet, and private health and education services, which sparked widespread disgruntlement from business owners and consumers alike. The fees for small operators and businesses, including cart operators, were also raised significantly.

Further, the private sector frequently accused the APNU+AFC of creating significant barriers to investment through heavy taxation and bureaucratic inefficiencies.

“The private sector responds to the policy environment you create,” Dr. Jagdeo said.