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2018 Annual Economic and Financial Review
DOMESTIC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS
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Eastern Caribbean Central Bank
other hand moved to a primary deficit position
from its small surplus one year ago.
The governments’ current operations yielded
a surplus of $581.0 (2.9 per cent of GDP)
compared with one of $360.8m (1.9 per cent
of GDP), as the rate of increase in revenue
collections outpaced that of current
expenditure. Current revenue grew by
11.3 per cent to $5,265.9m (26.2 per cent of
GDP) in contrast to a contraction of
1.2 per cent to $4,731.1m (24.8 per cent of
GDP) noted a year earlier. The increase in
current revenue resulted from enhanced
intakes from both non-tax and tax revenues.
Non-tax revenue grew by 31.8 per cent
($286.1m) to $1186.2m (5.9 per cent of
GDP), primarily due to growth of
51.5 per cent in proceeds associated with the
Citizenship by Investment Programmes in
St Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia. This
performance contrasts the outturn in 2017,
when non-tax revenue contracted by
11.2 per cent ($113.1m) to $900.17m
(4.7 per cent of GDP), which largely reflected
a downturn in Dominica’s intake.
Tax revenues increased by 6.5 per cent
($248.8m) to $4,079.7m (20.3 per cent of
GDP) compared with growth of 1.5 per cent
to $3,830.9m (20.1 per cent of GDP) recorded
in the previous year. Growth in tax revenue
was buoyed by higher intakes from all
categories of taxes, except the property tax.
Receipts from taxes on domestic goods and
services rose by 7.5 per cent ($124.1m), led
by higher collections from the value added tax
(VAT), supported by an increase in the intake
from the sales tax. VAT receipts were up by
11.3 per cent to $1071.1m (5.3 per cent of
GDP), reflecting improved performances in
five of the territories – Dominica, Grenada,
St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and
St Vincent and the Grenadines. Additionally,
yields from the sales tax grew by
17.5 per cent, a reflection of growth in
collection from the Antigua and Barbuda Sales
Tax, which was driven by enhanced
administration and investment in its IT
system.
Also contributing to the uptick in tax revenue,
was an increase of 9.3 per cent ($109.3m) to