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Years of pushing for companies to list on the South Pacific Stock Exchange (SPSE) may finally be heading somewhere with a tax boost announced by the government in its 2010 national Budget.
SPSE chief executive officer Jinita Prasad told FijiLive it was a “great initiative.”
“It has been a part of our plans for a couple of years now and there are a lot of positives to it because they are offering a lower tax rate (20 percent) to companies that are listed and at least 40 percent locally held,” said Prasad.
“That will encourage a lot more companies to come to the market. Not only to come and list but also sort of put pressure on them to sell down and make sure that a particular portion of the company is locally held.”
Efforts to get local companies to list on the exchange have been a struggle as little significant policy responses by previous governments to deepen the local capital markets.
In its 2010 Budget, the government provides reduced corporate tax of 20 percent for companies listing on the stock exchange provided they are at least 40 percent locally owned.
It is hoped that this would lift the number of companies listed on SPSE from the current 16 and provide share investors with more choice.
Stock exchange tax offer applauded
Years of pushing for companies to list on the South Pacific Stock Exchange (SPSE) may finally be heading somewhere with a tax boost announced by the government in its 2010 national Budget.
SPSE chief executive officer Jinita Prasad told FijiLive it was a “great initiative.”
“It has been a part of our plans for a couple of years now and there are a lot of positives to it because they are offering a lower tax rate (20 percent) to companies that are listed and at least 40 percent locally held,” said Prasad.
“That will encourage a lot more companies to come to the market. Not only to come and list but also sort of put pressure on them to sell down and make sure that a particular portion of the company is locally held.”
Efforts to get local companies to list on the exchange have been a struggle as little significant policy responses by previous governments to deepen the local capital markets.
In its 2010 Budget, the government provides reduced corporate tax of 20 percent for companies listing on the stock exchange provided they are at least 40 percent locally owned.
It is hoped that this would lift the number of companies listed on SPSE from the current 16 and provide share investors with more choice.
