The Saint Lucia Labour Party has recently shared statistics of its achievements in the last two years when Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre has been in office.
The government has been able to reduce the domestic payables to Government Contractors by more than 50%. At the time when PM Pierre joined the office, the payables were at an astonishing high of $174 million. However, the number has now reduced to $80 million. This is a big economic achievement as it eases cash flow back into Saint Lucia’s economy and hence facilitates growth.
The Debt to GDP ratio of Saint Lucia was 90.76% in 2021, which was reduced to 83.48% in 2022. This pushes a better international economic image for the country and promises better and faster economic development for Saint Lucia.
A large majority of the world has been hit by sudden inflation in the last few years owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War.
Pierre ensured that the Saint Lucian citizens were shielded to their best against these uncontrollable price rises by providing massive subsidies for basic amenities flour, sugar and cooking gas.
The government also introduced a removal of VAT on building materials like wood, steel, and cement to promote the building and development of infrastructure in the region.
Furthermore, a removal of VAT has also been introduced for female sanitary products.
Extra annual payments and pensions for teachers of Saint Lucia were also introduced to bring the sector of citizens in a better economic light.
The government paid 6.3 million in outstanding compensation owed by majestic industries to hundreds of their former workers.
The Prime Minister has had an equal focus on the healthcare development of Saint Lucia. Pierre’s government has initiated the project of Universal Healthcare in Saint Lucia, under which many projects have already been launched for the citizens of the island nation.
Under this initiative, free medical care and essential tests are provided to pregnant mothers in Saint Lucia.
To improve upon the education sector, the government initiated the free laptop program in schools and introduced many University scholarship programs for Saint Lucian students.
Apart from these, the MSME loan project and the funding for the completion of St Jude Hospital have been the recent highlighted achievements of the current government.
