Off the wire
• China needs more reforms to address overcapacity: European Chamber  • Feature: First overseas campus of top Chinese university to enhance ties with Malaysia  • China, Georgia vow to reach comprehensive FTA within 2016  • (Recast) Roundup: Bolivian president's bid for 4th term projected to fail in referendum  • UNESCO, European Commission to promote cultural routes  • Roundup: Bolivian president's bid for 4th term projected to fail in referendum  • Roundup: Uncertainty remains as Ugandan opposition reject poll results  • France, Australia call for cease fire in Syria's Aleppo  • Will superstars in CSL Big 4 shine in AFC Champions League?  • Major news items in leading German newspapers  
You are here: 　 Home

IMF's Lagarde calls on Gulf states to raise tax, cut spending

Xinhua, February 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday urged member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to raise tax and cut spending to compensate losses from lower oil prices, Gulf News reported.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde was visiting the United Arab Emirates for the first time as chief of the international financial organization.

She told the Arab Fiscal Forum in the UAE capital that the combined oil revenue losses due to the fall in oil prices in the GCC have reached 340 billion U. S. dollars.

The GCC states shall increase revenues from non-oil sources and at the same time "reengineer their tax system," Lagarde said.

She welcomed GCC countries' plans to simultaneously implement a value-added tax regime by 2018, saying such a tax "even at a low single digit rate, can could raise up to two percent of the GCC's gross domestic product."

Lagarde also said the oil producing Gulf states shall build up tax administration capacities which enable them to introduce taxes on incomes. Endit