KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner – AMID THE hue and cry from sections of the society in response to a $16-billion tax package passed by Parliament this week, Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips has urged Jamaicans to be guided by the country's economic reality as well as the global financial climate. “I think it important and I plead for the country and all the stakeholders to have a realistic understanding of the kind of world within which we operate,” Phillips said. Since the announcement of the tax measures, the parliamentary Opposition, sections of the business community as well as the Church have chided the Government saying, among other things, that the manner in which it was done was deceptive.
