dominica2day: Prime Minister Skerrit presents upbeat assessment of Dominican economy

Prime Minister Skerrit presents upbeat assessment of Dominican economy
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Sean Douglas,Govt Press Sec on 21 November, 2007 01:21:00
 
Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Foreign Affairs and Social Security,
Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit has presented an upbeat assessment of the performance of
the Dominican economy in the last year.
The Prime Minister was at the time presenting his National Day Address at the
Parade of Uniformed Groups on November 3, 2007 on the occasion of the island’s
29th anniversary of independence.
According to the Prime Minister, the Dominican economy grew by 4% in 2006, the
highest in two decades. There was also an overall budget surplus of $4.2
million.
“The measures taken during the crisis years have paid off and the recently
introduced VAT regime is performing satisfactorily. Although economically we are
not where we would like to be, we have cause for celebration,” the Prime
Minister stated.
Hon. Skerrit reported that his Government was able to pay over $3 million in
back pay to public officers this year and thanked public officers, “who
endured much of the austerity measures introduced in the first five years of
this century”.
The Dominican leader also made mention of the swiftness of Government in
responding to natural disasters. “Most recently even our critics have come to
appreciate the unprecedented speed with which we responded to the suffering
caused by Hurricane Dean. Within days of the destruction, relief in the form of
cash was in the hands of farmers who lost their crops and livestock, fishermen
and others whose sources of income were adversely affected,” Mr Skerrit noted.
In the sphere of education, the former College lecturer noted his
Government’s efforts to reform the primary schools’ curriculum in an effort
to “broaden the concept of education from knowing and doing, to learning how
to coexist and learning how to be”.
“At the tertiary level, we are making significant progress towards
Government’s goal of having a graduate in every household by 2015.
Unprecedented numbers of students are studying abroad while at home the number
of students at the Dominica State College has risen from 200 to over 2000 in
less than five years,” Hon. Skerrit emphasised.
The Prime Minister also highlighted Dominica’s improved position in the
United Nations Human Development Index. The HDI is a measure of social welfare
or well-being in a country. It is an indicator of citizens’ access to clean
water, decent housing, education, health services among other criteria. In 2004,
Dominica was ranked 95 out of 177 countries. By 2006, the country had jumped to
68 from a total of 177 countries.
The Government’s management of the public finances and its fiscal stance has
attracted praise from the donor community, the Prime Minister reported.
“One indicator of the progress we have made on this front is the fact that
Dominica has qualified for General Budgetary Support from the European Union. We
are therefore eligible to receive EC$11 million for Public Sector Reform and
EC$30 million for activities in support of growth and private sector
development,” the Prime Minister concluded.