Jumhoory Party’s presidential candidate Gasim Ibrahim has promised to establish a more conducive taxation system which will boost the current government tax revenue from MVR 11 billion to MVR 20 billion.
Gasim made his statements at Jumhoory Party’s official campaign launching event held in Alif Dhaalu Maamigili last night. Addressing a large crowd of supporters, Gasim said that a conducive taxation system is necessary and that he is the man for the job.
“And then, we’ll be able to regularly collect money from the rich, which we deserve. With this, we can increase the current government revenue of MVR 11 or MVR 11.5 billion to MVR 20 billion. God willing, we will achieve this,” Gasim said.
He said that he is proud to have been the first person to assemble and propose a tax bill to parliament and that during former president Mohamed Nasheed's government, he had strongly lobbied in favour of collecting the Tourism Goods and Services Tax, when the former president was facing great pressure against collecting the tax.
He also pledged to establish a mechanism to finance T-bills as a means to reduce the budget deficit, to attract investment banks to the Maldives, and to maintain the rate of basic food products of rice, sugar and flour in the islands, as the same as they are available in the capital Male’.
He is standing for election to serve the Maldivian people, he said, and that he has no other motive. He reminded the people of his numerous contributions to society and said that he and his running mate are the most capable option available to lead the country.