Manama: Finance and National Economy Minister Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said scrapping of taxes on a number of government services will not affect total general revenues.
Revenues collected from 400 services that have been exempted from fees represent only 0.007 per cent of the general revenues, he said.
The scrapped taxes will not be replaced with new service levies, he pointed out in reply to a question by Shura Council’s financial and economic affairs committee chairman Khalid Al Maskati.
He said the Cabinet approved the cancellation of taxes imposed on 200 government services in July 2019. Taxes were further scrapped on another 200 services in December 2019, bringing the overall number to 400.
It followed directives by His Majesty King Hamad to review the fee-levying mechanism taking into account citizens’ needs. The Executive Committee has also recommended the service fee waiver.
l Shaikh Salman yesterday met Arab Monetary Fund officials and discussed progress of the Fiscal Balance Programme. It aims to deliver a balanced budget by 2022.
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