The Grenada Government will apply a more structured approach to the implementation of capital projects to revitalise the economy in the face of continued challenges from Covid-19.
During a recent address to the nation, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Dr Rt. Hon. Keith Mitchell said “Government will place significant emphasis on aggressively implementing capital projects that are funded by external grants and loans” to restart the economy.
During a radio interview on Tuesday morning, he said these capital projects are very important for the country, because of their employment generation potential. Therefore, adjustments will be made mainly to recurring expenditure.
The Prime Minister added that no more money will be pumped into the recurrent side to support additional hiring, which will only be done on a contractual basis, and for a specified time and service. “For example, government will invest in the training and development of young people, and of course in the productive sector of the economy, so that the end product will be the improvement and development of the country.”
He said it is heartening that even amidst the challenges presented by the pandemic, Grenada was still in a position to provide stimulus packages to those severely affected by the shutdown of the economy, something many regional countries cannot do at this time. “We are in a better position, fiscally from 2013 to 2019/2020 until Covid hit.”
In addition, Grenada continues to meet its public sector payroll, and Dr Mitchell again appealed to citizens to be responsible with respect to the virus since the country cannot afford a second shutdown.
Dr Mitchell reiterated that organisations need to follow the example of the religious community and speak to their membership about the dangers of the virus and the importance of adhering to the protocols, a point that was reiterated during a recent meeting with social partners.
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