Government’s revision of import duties “doesn’t make sense”, say former economic ministers
14 Jun 2012, 5:04 PM
Daniel Bosley
Minister of Finance and Treasury Abdulla Jihad yesterday announced the government’s intention to revise the changes made to import duties and to reduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST), after arguing that these policies had failed to improve the state’s finances.
The measures, introduced under the previous government, followed consultations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over how to strengthen and stabilise the economy.
These policies included introducing a general Goods and Services Tax (GST); raising import duties on pork, tobacco, alcohol and plastic products; raising the Tourism Goods and Services Tax (T-GST) to 6 percent; and reducing import duties on certain products.
The shortfall from reduced import duties was expected to be more than compensated for by Rf 2 billion (US$129.8million) in Tourism Goods and Services Tax (T-GST), effective since February 2011, and Rf1 billion ($US64.9 million) as general Goods and Services Tax (GST), introduced in August 2011.
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