2019/20 Budget Communication Final Budget Communication | Page 51

Mr. Speaker,
This Budget is a break from the Past. This Budget invests in comprehensive structural
reforms that are going to make the Government work better and be better. From ease of doing
business, to the digital transformation; from the focus on tax fairness and the overhaul of revenue
administration and collection; from the adoption of transparent and accountable fiscal practices to
the overhaul ofState Owned Enterprises. The work this Budget will enable us to do is meaningful
and substantive, although gritty and often unrewarding, but it will make the Bahamian Government
a better partner to Bahamian people.
This Budget invests in strategic projects and programs that are going to build 21st
century infrastructure and set a new foundation for growth; that will make education more inclusive
and help Bahamians to break the cycle of poverty. With this budget, we are:
Ø making a sizeable leap in the funding for education and training as an
investment in our most important national asset—our young people;
Ø we are about to embark upon a $100 million plus strategic investment in
renewable energy to spark the green revolution, so as to power The Bahamas
of tomorrow where we make optimal use of the abundant sunshine that God
has so favorably bestowed upon us; and,
Ø we are expanding in a substantial way the resources available to Bahamian
entrepreneurs and small businesses so
that Bahamians are given the
opportunity to drive economic growth and job creation.
And finally Mr. Speaker, the core priorities of this budget are aligned with the core of
this Minnis-led Administration. We are an administration that believes in Bahamian empowerment
and in true and meaningful investments for the long term benefit of Bahamians. We are not in the
game of political dependency where we provide so called opportunities by doling out taxpayer
funded contracts to partisan supporters so as to keep them loyal. That is not a formula for success.
Instead, our focus—and correspondingly the focus of the people’s money—lay
squarely on expanding investment and training. Our focus is on providing them with the funds—
independent of political persuasion—to become their own employers and chart their own courses.
We are providing the core infrastructure for today and tomorrow that allows them to create their
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