Special tax to provide less 'fuel' for road maintenance

THE FUEL tax is to contribute less money to the Road Maintenance Fund (RMF) this fiscal year.

Some $1.4 billion is budgeted to flow into the RMF from the special consumption tax (SCT) of $8.75 that has been applied to fuel.

Last year, the SCT contributed $1.5 billion to the RMF while $1.8 billion was paid into the fund in the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

When Finance Minister Audley Shaw introduced the tax in 2008, he promised that 20 per cent of the fuel tax would be paid into the RMF in the first year and thereafter increase the amount to 35 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Government has budgeted $750 million to the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP).

The allocation is to assist the RMF in meeting its obligation in relation to its loan with the JDIP in a partnership between the Government of Jamaica and the Export-Import Bank of China.