2018/19 Budget Communication 2018_2019 BUDGET COMMUNICATION | Page 108

We do not have to look far to see the consequences
of governments and countries that waited too long – those
jurisdictions that were forced into painful structural
adjustments in order to get the foreign currency necessary to
enable them to import the basics and keep their currencies
afloat. This government will not wait until it is too late.
Instead, we are acting now and we are acting responsibly.
We make the commitment as well that, as the
hundreds of millions of old arrears and obligations are
finally paid off over the next three years, the Government
will then give back to consumers in the form of Customs
duty and Excise tax reductions, on the order of $100 million,
to the benefit of Bahamians throughout the country.
With the implementation of this three-year fiscal
strategy, the mandated deficit targets will be fully met in
2018/19 and the two following years. The end result will be
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