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Reining in tax evasion top priority — Kanakrieh

By JT - Jun 20,2019 - Last updated at Jun 20,2019

The Lower House Finance Committee on Wednesday meets with Finance Minister Ezzeddine Kanakrieh over government's financial policies (Petra photo)

AMMAN — The government will not raise prices even if revenues decline, Finance Minister Ezzeddine Kanakrieh said on Wednesday. 

During a meeting with the Lower House's Finance Committee, Kanakrieh stressed that the government is currently working on realising economic growth and combating tax evasion, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

In this regard, the minister said that there are challenges raising revenues due to a decline in sales tax, customs and a weak real estate sector.

As for e-commerce, he stressed that the Cabinet has discussed the issue and its effects from financial perspectives on the State Treasury and on the quality of commodities the citizens receive.

The minister also said that clearance on electric and hybrid cars is increasing this year when compared with last year, stressing that the government encourages such a trend. 

Head of the committee Khalid Bakkar said that the government has made some achievements but still has not realised what it is required to to increase revenues despite imposing taxes and increasing prices, which means that there are faults that should be addressed.

Bakkar said that it is no longer viable to build the state budget on “virtual numbers”, especially that such a mechanism can cause an “economic crisis”.

Head of the Lower House's Economy and Investment Committee Kheir Abu Saalik criticised the government’s approach in applying laws, noting that the government is not controlling e-commerce.

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