 Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Honourable Philip J. Pierre continues to introduce prudent fiscal policies that will improve the government's ability to generate additional revenue to meet the needs of and better serve St. Lucian citizens and the island's inhabitants, committed to strengthening the island's public health infrastructure and bolstering St. Lucia's national security apparatus, Prime Minister Pierre has proposed a new health and security levy that will bring in an estimated 33 million EC dollars in new money for the government on an annual basis. The levy will be implemented to have a minimal inflationary impact and avoid any additional administrative burden and costs to businesses. The health and security levy will not affect food items and selected building materials, medical equipment and security equipment will be exempted. This levy will not be imposed on any food items. This means that the cost of food should not change because of the levy unless prices increase from overseas. I am urging the private sector to work with the government to ensure that this measure is not used as a basis for increasing the price of food. Prime Minister Pierre has engineered St. Lucia's encouraging economic turnaround which has further enabled the government to deliver targeted relief measures to the public. In July 2023 developers and contractors in the construction sector and even private citizens planning to build or remodel their homes will benefit from a two-year VAT exemption on select building materials namely plywood, lumber, steel, cement and galvanized. This means that the retail price of these items should be reduced by 12.5% unless the imported price of these changes increase. To ensure compliance, government will engage in a price monitoring exercise. Although the Finance Minister has set his implementation target for the levy for July 1, 2023, it is important to note that the House of Assembly remains the final decision-making body to decide on the fate of the proposed legislation to amend the country's tax regimes. From the office of the Prime Minister, Rihani Isidou.