House committee calls for cancelling sales tax on non-exempt basic items

AMMAN — Head of the Lower House Economy and Investment Committee MP Khair Abu Sailik called for cancelling sales tax on non-exempt basic items, allowing exports for all and supporting the National Aid Fund.

During a committee meeting to discuss government procedures to address price hikes, Abu Sailik called for lowering interest on granted loans of merchants and importers through finance programmes supervised by the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The lawmaker said that price hikes also affected potash and phosphate, which means an increase in tax revenues from these items, calling on the government to allocate these revenues to benefit limited-income citizens.

During the meeting, Industry, Trade and Supply Minister Yousef Shamali said that prices of most commodities have been witnessing increases since August 2020 due to the pandemic. President of the Amman Chamber of Commerce Khalil Hajj Tawfiq said that Jordan imports some four million tonnes of food, which equals some 85 per cent of its food needs.