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Fiji economist and Commerce Commission chairman Mahendra Reddy said the 2010 Budget is positive one that caters well to the needs and interests of all sections of Fiji’s community.
Reddy hailed the one percent reduction in corporate tax from 29 to 28 percent.
“Positive not only in terms of more returns accruing to the corporate sector but also a signal that you are sending to the corporate sector that we want to look after them. They are going to get more return out of the investments,” he said.
Reddy also praise the 3 percent reduction in export tax from fisheries and timber.
“I always say that export tax is a tax on production. When you want to promote production and therefore export, you don’t go and tax that sector. You also affect the competitive edge of that particular product in the export market so reduction of 3 percent both on the fish export and timber is a very positive thing,” he added.
He said new initiatives in the 2010 Budget to address poverty, apart from existing measures, were positive moves.
“For example, people who can’t afford to get a deposit for a home loan, government has set aside a significant amount of money to partially fund them. Then you have got this food voucher for households for getting family assistance scheme and which was not enough. So the food voucher is used for targeting them which is good,” Reddy added.
“So I think overall it’s a positive budget and a good one for the country. You can’t expect too much out of where we are in terms of the economy.
