ST. GEORGE’S, GRENADA OCTOBER 19- Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell has dismissed the New National Party’s proposed tax relief as election gimmicks, arguing that promises to remove taxes he says do not exist offer no substitute for sustained economic growth and job creation.

Addressing the National Democratic Congress rally at the National Stadium on Sunday night, Mitchell challenged the opposition’s economic credibility as campaigning intensifies ahead of the November 5 general election.

“Removing VAT on electricity when there is no VAT on electricity as we speak is not the economy,” he said. “Saying you will make everything under the living sun free is not the economy.”

His remarks target a central plank of NNP leader Emmalin Pierre’s campaign: easing household costs through tax removals and other relief measures. The competing approaches have placed the cost of living and economic management at the center of the election debate.

Mitchell argued that effective leadership required an understanding of fiscal policy, unemployment and investment in productive sectors, rather than promises made shortly before polling day.

“It is always the quick gimmick, hoping that they can catch you two days, three days, four days before the election,” he said.

Defending his administration’s performance, Mitchell said the economy had expanded annually despite hurricane damage and international instability. He claimed unemployment had fallen from more than 16 percent in 2021 to below 7.5 percent by 2025–2026, alongside growth in tourism, agriculture and construction.

He accused the opposition of failing to explain how it would sustain that growth or create opportunities for school-leavers.

“Every year, thousands of young people leave school. We have to create the economies that will hire them. You have to allow them to become their own businessmen and women.”

Mitchell also invoked the NNP’s record, accusing previous administrations of lowering the income-tax threshold from EC$5,000 to EC$3,000 and borrowing without sufficient investment in productive activity.

Turning to infrastructure, he defended the government’s finance-design-build approach, saying contractors arrange financing and undertake construction before receiving payment over five years once completed work meets required standards.

He argued that the arrangement had encouraged competition among construction companies and challenged critics to present an alternative.

The Prime Minister’s message sought to shift attention from immediate tax concessions towards the leadership, investment and financing decisions he said were necessary to sustain employment and economic expansion.