Budget 2018 speaks to the man in the street – Gaskin

Business Minister Dominic Gaskin has rebutted the opposition’s dismal depiction of the 2018 Budget.

“I’m seeing a totally different budget from what was depicted. Budget 2018 is a people focused budget, it speaks to the man in the street,” he stated as he continued the budget debates in the National Assembly on Monday.

Gaskin referred to the personal income tax allowance, the VAT on low cost housing and concessions to employers who provide daycare facilities as he contended that assertions by opposition parliamentarian Irfaan Ali, that the budget has nothing for single parents and the ordinary man.

The Business Minister admitted that perhaps the government needs to do more but he promised that “more will come.”

Meanwhile, he has promised to increase the number of grants distributed to business students across the country to fund their School Based Assessments (SBAs) to become real investment projects.

Gaskin said this initiative was rolled out this year and saw approximately 100 grants of $30,000 being given out to students across 15 schools in the country.

The Business Minister noted that the project will be expanded in 2018 in order to develop a sense of entrepreneurship at a young age.

The initiative is being spearheaded by the Small Business Bureau.