2006 Budget must help the poor

[posted 26 Oct 2005,10.30]

The Fiji Labour Party has called on the Finance Minister to remove VAT and Duty from staple food items to provide relief to the poor, as the People’s Coalition Government had done in 1999.

Opposition Leader Mahendra Chaudhry said the hardship and suffering of the poor had worsened since 2000 and the SDL government had been very insensitive in re-imposing the VAT and Customs Duty on staple food items, that had been removed by the People’s Coalition Government.

“Not only that, the government has since increased VAT from 10% to 12.5% across the board regardless of the increased hardship caused by the coup and the inability of people to pay more for basic goods and services.

“As a result of this the price of basic food items and everyday consumer goods have risen to levels that are making it difficult for the poor to buy even simple things like liquid and powdered milk, butter, baby foods, household detergents and so on,” Mr. Chaudhry said.

“It is clear that VAT was raised from 10% to 12.5% by a government that cannot control its spending and found a quick way of raising funds through increases in VAT, albeit at the expense of the poor,” he said.

VAT and Duty must also be removed from educational and medical supplies and drugs, again to make them more affordable to the growing ranks of the poor in our country.