By SEKINALO SAWALA
I write to put into perspective what many political proxies and cronies have misconstrued about the GST remittance to provinces released by Internal Revenue Commission that was put up on social media by Honorable Dr Billy Joseph. It is a privileged information.
The List of Goods and Services Tax (GST) remitted to respective Provincial Governments provided by the Internal Revenue Commission (IRC) is a concrete evidence showing how the country’s economy has performed over the years under different regimes of government. In this case, it simply reflects the performance of the economy under the previous O’Neil Government and the current Pangu led coalition Government under the stewardship of Prime Minister James Marape.
If you have the conviction that figures or numbers don’t lie, well there we have the proof as to which political regime has done better and subsequently dismisses the lies about the economy of the country has collapsed. This simple piece of evidence says it all and should send a clear message to the critiques of the current government that the country’s economy has improved and doing better.
Despite the law and order problems people face around the country, the GST remittance register is an important performance indicator of any political regime which reflects the level of economic performance in terms of economic activities and cash flow in the country. Led by NCD, all the provinces have picked up well, with NCD showing increased buying power and economic activities.
It is also important to take note of the fact that the GST regime has undergone improved tax collection measures by the IRC under the vibrant management of Mr Sam Koim, who has introduced much needed reforms.
GST is an untied and reliable cash remitted monthly (22nd of each month) to provinces by IRC. These are guaranteed funds paid by IRC directly and provinces can use these reliable cash to provide some much needed services instead of waiting for budget appropriations from the Department of Finance.
People, particularly political cronies and proxies should not be making baseless comments on social media hastily comparing the performance of past governments as against the current government. The facts and figures are there for all to see and no one should be misleading anyone.
