Minister of State for Finance Michael Halkitis said the government is confident in its ability to hold educational campaigns for both value-added tax (VAT) and a constitutional referendum simultaneously.

The government has set July 1, 2014 as the implementation date for VAT and has committed to holding a referendum by June 2014.

Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis called on the government previously to hold off on the implementation of VAT. Minnis said both campaigns should not coincide.

Former PLP Cabinet Minister George Smith recently urged the government to further delay the constitutional referendum and focus solely on the implementation of VAT.

He said Bahamians are too preoccupied with issues surrounding the economy, high unemployment and crime to take on a constitutional referendum and the implementation of VAT. The government has already delayed the referendum twice.

Halkitis told The Nassau Guardian that the government is sticking to its plan for right now. "They will be going on simultaneously," he said.

"I believe that the Bahamian people can deal with more than one issue simultaneously." Halkitis said the government is going to accelerate its educational campaign on VAT this week.

The Ministry of Finance has planned workshops on Wednesday and Thursday at Workers House for the business community and for consumers.

Halkitis also said members of the Constitutional Commission will travel across The Bahamas to inform Bahamians about the issues that will be included on the ballot.

Prime Minister Perry Christie has said the government hopes to amend the citizenship provisions of the constitution to achieve full equality between men and women with respect to the acquisition and transmission of Bahamian nationality.

As it relates to VAT, Christie said last week the government may consider delaying the implementation, if it determines that Bahamians are not properly informed by July 1.

In the meantime, Halkitis said the implementation team will seek to ensure that people understand the implications of VAT.

"We need to make sure that there's buy in and people understand what's expected of them and the government," he said. "So our activities will be accelerated."

Responding to those who believe that VAT is the wrong choice, Halkitis said: "We would like to have universal support, but we know we will never get universal agreement.

"Some people will disagree for philosophical reasons. They might say, 'Okay, I want an income tax instead', or they may say, 'I don't want any tax. I want a smaller government'. "Some people might disagree for political reasons.

They will not agree because the fact of the matter is they don't support this administration.

"We believe that we will always have those voices out there of dissent. What we believe our job is, is to explain to the Bahamian people that given the financial circumstances of the country, doing nothing is not an option.

Doing nothing will only delay the problems for future generations to deal with. We must do something." Over the last two fiscal years, the government has seen a total deficit in excess of $500 million. The projected deficit at the end of 2013/2014 is $529 million.

Almost one out of every four dollars in revenue collected by the government must be allocated to pay the interest charges on the public debt, and cover the debt repayment. The government has estimated that VAT will add another $200 million in revenue annually.

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