The Maldivian government is optimistic about the newly-implemented goods and services tax (GST) while opposition DRP requests a modern overhaul of the tax system. Finance Minister Inaz calls it part of the people’s responsibility “to show that the Maldives can stand on its own feet.”
As the number of people who earn Rf150,000 (US$9,700) a month are quite few, argued DRP leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, an additional tax burden would discourage them from investing and incentivise down-sizing or cost-cutting measures, such as layoffs, in their businesses.
The public must now stand up and confront the judiciary and the Supreme Court if there is ever to be hope of real justice in the Maldives, Ibrahim ‘Ibra’ Ismail tells Minivan News: “There will come a point – sooner or later – when people will just not tolerate it. But then it will be ugly.”
Maldives Ambassador to the UN, Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, speaks to Minivan News about the Maldives-US relationship, climate politics and the challenges facing the country with the introduction of new interpretations of religion.
Care Ratings Maldives’ 2011 report on the tourism sector makes promising projections for the Maldives as a leading vacation destination in the coming years, but highlights setbacks to industry growth are environment, infrastructure, human capital, and government policies.
Civic action campaign against MPs’ controversial Rf20,000-a-month committee allowance continues with volunteers distributing leaflets at bus stops in Male’.
Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s decision to create a new political party should come as now surprise to anyone who has been watching developments in the Maldives, writes S. Chandrasekharan for the Eurasia Review.
The Criminal Court yesterday acquitted two men accused of robbing prominent businessmen Ibrahim ‘Campus’ Didi on December 27, 2009.
Government expenditure outstripped revenue by 20 percent between January 1 and September 8, 2011, according to the first of weekly expenditure statements made public by the Ministry of Finance and Treasury yesterday.