Charging that the economy was deteriorating and that thousands of workers had lost jobs, the parliamentary opposition on Monday submitted a motion to Parliament with proposals for the 2018 budget and key among these is the reversal of VAT on a range of areas and the axing of plans to shutter three sugar estates.
In the recital to the motion, PPP/C MPs Irfaan Ali and Gail Teixeira argued that all indicators are pointing to an economy that is deteriorating and which requires urgent “counter cyclical policies”. They further argued that the government’s tax-oriented approach to the economy has caused it to slide and that thousands of jobs are at risk.
Under fiscal and taxation policies, they called for the withdrawal of VAT on items that were previously zero-rated and the rescinding of new fees and licences from the 2016 and 2017 budgets. They also want VAT removed from essential food items, electricity, water, education goods and services, heavy-duty machinery and local products in the forestry sector among other areas.
