Search

Advanced Search

Budget Speech


    (Page 1 of 3)   
    « Prev
      
    1
      2  3  Next »

    Le Sithanen nouveau

    Chacun cherche à démonter l’apparent tour de passe-passe ; beaucoup appréhendaient le pire, quelques-uns guettaient la faute. Rama Sithanen émerge de l’exercice avec une crédibilité retrouvée et une légitimité confortée. Tout est pourtant d’une simplicité lumineuse et c’est le Premier ministre qui l’a rappelé : pour récolter, il faut d’abord semer. Les premiers fruits de cette récolte avancée, nous les devons aux sacrifices exigés par le premier budget de Sithanen. Il n’y a pas de secret, le ministre des Finances desserre, en partie, l’étau fiscal qui brime autant les salariés que les entreprises, et soulage le fardeau de diverses catégories sociales uniquement parce qu’il a su générer des revenus supplémentaires. Ces revenus, il les a obtenus parce que les réformes enclenchées ont produit, comme escompté, une croissance de 5 %, contre seulement 2,2 % en 2005. Il parie sur la poursuite de la croissance, en restant fidèle à sa stratégie. Si les mêmes causes produisent les mêmes effets, il ne prend pas un bien grand risque. Je crois d’ailleurs que le mouvement devrait s’accélérer. Pour trois raisons.

    Budget 2007/2008: le secteur privé

    «Accueil favorable » pour le Joint Economic Council (JEC), « Budget à la Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo » pour le Dr Pramode Jaddoo du Mauritius Institute of Education. La réaction du secteur privé après l’énoncé du dernier budget va d’un extrême à un autre. Mais à mi-chemin, c’est « un processus d’apaisement social pour permettre à la réforme de suivre son cours », comme l’affirme Éric Ng, qui résume bien les choses.
     
     Le directeur de PluriConseil poursuit en soulignant que « tous ne sont peut-être pas encore vraiment convaincus de la rationalité de la réforme économique, mais on peut espérer moins de résistance dans les rangs du gouvernement à la poursuite de celle-ci ». Les premiers signes de cet apaisement se sont manifestés par la réaction du JEC, jusqu’à tout récemment en froid avec le gouvernement. 
     

    PROJETS DE DÉVELOPPEMENT: Plus de Rs 10 milliards allouées

    Imaginez un complexe résidentiel avec 1 850 appartements, coûtant chacun Rs 1 million et vous aurez l’équivalent de l’augmentation de l’actuel budget par rapport à celui de l’année dernière. Les prévisions pour 2007-2008 sont, en effet, de Rs 10,05 milliards contre Rs 8,2 milliards pour 2006-2007.

    « Nos infrastructures publiques doivent refléter notre ambition de bâtir cette île Maurice moderne que notre population mérite », a indiqué Rama Sithanen lors de la lecture du discours du budget vendredi.

    EMPLOI: Les femmes d’abord

    EMPLOI: Les femmes d’abord
     
     Comment relancer l’emploi ? À cette question lancinante, la réponse se fait plus précise. Puisque le chômage se concentre au féminin pluriel (15,5 % contre 5,5 % chez les hommes), c’est vers les femmes que le gouvernement se tourne. « Il est urgent de réduire l’écart entre le chômage masculin et féminin, sans quoi les inégalités salariales se creuseront davantage », a fait remarquer le ministre des Finances.
     
     Concrètement, le gouvernement compte actionner quatre leviers imbriqués entre eux : la reconversion, la formation, l’entrepreneuriat et l’orientation.

    Budget 2007/08 Financer le social par la fiscalité

    Concilier impératifs écono-miques et développement social. C'est le pari qu'a voulu relever le Grand argentier en présentant son deuxième Budget.

    Le social a un coût. Il sera en grande mesure financé par les impôts directs et indirects qui rapporteront Rs 42,8 milliards dans les caisses de l'Etat pour l'année financière 20007/08.

    A défaut d'augmenter ou d'élargir la base de l'assiette de la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée, Rama Sithanen entend obtenir le maximum de revenus sur les impôts à travers un système fiscal transparent et bien rodé.

    BUDGET 2007-2008 Sithanen L’ambitieux

    C’est en pariant sur les effets de la croissance que Rama Sithanen, le ministre des Finances, a présenté son budget vendredi. L’exercice est entièrement consacré à accélérer le développement économique du pays. En maintenant le cap de la réforme. Tout en adoptant de nombreuses mesures favorisant l’emploi et l’amélioration du sort des nécessiteux.

    «Les premiers résultats de la réforme et de l’ouverture de l’économie sont là. C’est ce qui m’a permis de présenter ce budget », nous a expliqué hier Rama Sithanen. L’exercice de cette année tranche avec le précédent. Par l’ambition et l’optimisme qu’affiche le ministre des Finances. Il prend le parti d’amener l’État à dépenser davantage. Aussi bien sur son budget de fonctionnement que de développement. Tout en choisissant de ne pas financer ces dépenses par de nouveaux impôts. Mais par les effets d’une croissance économique qui repart à la hausse.

    Les principales mesures du Budget 2007 - 2008

    «Levy» sur les bénéfices des banques, baisse des taux d’imposition des entreprises pour encourager l’investissement… Si le budget privilégie les mesures visant à générer les revenus et la croissance, il n’oublie pas les habituels «parents pauvres», le patrimoine ou la culture…

    ● COMPETENCES ÉTRANGÈRES. Les étrangers qui ont travaillé à Maurice pendant une période de trois ans et qui touchent un salaire de Rs 150 000 au moins seront éligibles à un permis de résidence permanent et seront autorisés à acheter des biens immobiliers.

    Mauritius National Budget 2007 - 2008

    Ministry Of Finance and Economic Development
    Mauritius National Budget 2007 - 2008

    Budget Speech 2007 - 2008 (doc)
     

    Budget Speech 2007 - 2008 (pdf)

    Draft Capital Budget

    Draft Recurrent Budget

    RECURRENT BUDGET WITH MEMORANDUM

    RECURRENT BUDGET

    REVENUE

    EXPENDITURE

    APPENDICES

    Programme-based Budget (2007-2008 to 2009-2010)

    The Customs Tariff Act (Amendment of Schedule) (No. 4) Regulations 2007

    Mauritius National Budget 2007 - 2008

    Mauritius National Budget 2007 - 2008

    Budget Analysis

    CONCLUSION

    307.        Mr Speaker, Sir, let me remind the nation once again where we started and where we are going.

    308.        We have moved the nation from decline to the beginning of a promising recovery.  By maintaining course and completing the work we have started we will put the country back on the road to prosperity.

    309.        Last year we took a commitment to put the economy back on the right track and to restore public finances.  We pledged to empower more people.  We also promised to share the gains from recovery with all the population, especially the weakest.  Mr Speaker, Sir, with this Budget we have created the conditions for sustainable growth and full employment, we have empowered a growing number of our people, we have displayed compassion and solidarity for the neediest and all this while also putting the public finances back on the right track. We are taming the twin beasts of budget deficit and public debt to create fiscal space for development. For the first time in many years, both are coming down as a share of GDP while capital expenditure has soared.

    310.        Mr Speaker, Sir, no sustainable reduction in poverty can be achieved without strong job creation. This is why this Budget is about creating the conditions for robust, sustained and inclusive growth whilst laying the foundations for reaching full employment in the medium term.

    311.        But this Budget is also, as Amartya Sen would put it, about enhancing and expanding human capabilities and giving everybody the possibility of being a respected participant in society. And it equally bolsters the spirit of solidarity with the poor, the vulnerable and the weak. 

    312.        Mr Speaker, Sir, last year we braced ourselves to face the confluence of threats coming from everywhere. We have done it. Today we are harnessing the waves of opportunities.  They are many.  The future looks bright.  But not if we stand still and wait. We must push forward.  In nation building there are no roads without hurdles. We must continue our journey, push to new frontiers and open new horizons for our children.  This Budget will take us to these goals.

    313.        Mr Speaker, Sir, I now commend the Bill to the House.

    EQUITY FOR SMALL PLANTERS

    297.        Mr Speaker, Sir, in 1994, as Minister of Finance, I negotiated and signed a landmark agreement with the sugar industry. This historic agreement for the first time made small sugar cane planters and employees owners of sugar milling companies to the tune of 20 percent of the capital.

    298.        I structured the deal with a combination of loans and grants to make it affordable to planters and employees to become shareholders.  Many had doubts about that vision.  Thirteen years later, most people have rallied to the concept of broadening share ownership and creating a partnership amongst stakeholders of the industry. 

    BUDGET OUTLOOK

    282.        I shall now sum up the Budget Estimates for 2007/08 and indicate the fiscal outlook.

    283.        The single most important factor determining next year’s expenditure estimates is an expected 28 percent increase in interest payments.  We have had to make provision for Rs 12 billion next year to meet this obligation.

    284.        In spite of this, we expect to contain current expenditure next year to Rs 50.5 billion or 20.3 percent of GDP, a 0.2 percentage point decrease. 

    PERSONAL INCOME TAX

    275.        Mr Speaker, Sir, I have one last measure concerning taxation.

    276.        Throughout this Budget I have shown the solidarity of this Government not only with those who cannot help themselves but equally with those who help themselves. Government wants to reward all who make efforts.

    277.        Last year I lowered the top marginal rate from 30 percent to 22.5 percent, a reduction of 25 percent.  I also reduced the number of tax bands from 4 to 2.  I widened the tax band to Rs 500,000.  I also considerably raised the income exemption threshold to up to Rs 425,000.  These four measures have resulted in removing more than half of taxpayers from the tax net and lowered the tax burden on the vast majority of tax payers.

    278.        Mr Speaker, Sir, we want to continue to reward effort, hard work and enterprise. I am very pleased to announce that I am eliminating the top rate of 22.5 percent.

    279.        This means that from 1 July 2007 all individual tax payers will face a flat rate of 15 percent. 

    280.        We have, therefore, brought the reduction in tax rate forward by two years.

    281.        Mr Speaker, Sir, in just one year I have halved the top personal income tax rate from 30 percent to 15 percent.

    NATIONAL RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY TAX

    268.        Mr Speaker Sir, I have stated earlier that Government pledges to stay sensitive to the voice of our population. I want to redeem that pledge in the case of the NRPT.   We have listened to the concerns of the population. A committee of experts have revisited the incidence of that tax and the complexities in its application and we have weighed all these with the need to strike fairness in our tax system. 

    MISCELLANEOUS TAX MEASURES

    259.        I am proposing to bring through the Finance Bill and by way of Regulations a number of amendments to revenue and related laws to plug identified loopholes, improve tax compliance and administration and streamline certain provisions. I will mention here only the salient ones.

    260.        First, under Income Tax

    Small sugar cane and tobacco growers will be exempted from submission of the quarterly CPS return. To facilitate tax compliance by those growers, MRA will come up with a presumptive method of taxation and the grower may opt for that simplified system of taxation.

    IMPROVING TAX COMPLIANCE AND COLLECTION

    253.        We are also introducing this year two special schemes for facilitating settlement of tax disputes and for voluntary disclosure of under-declared or undeclared income.  The objectives are two-fold: to collect tax dues for financing public infrastructure and social assistance programmes; and to enable funds to get back into the formal sector so that they can be put to more productive use in the economy.

    254.        The first Scheme is the Tax Arrears Payment Incentive Scheme (TAPIS).  It aims at mopping up outstanding tax arrears and claims under litigation.  The second one, the Voluntary Disclosure Incentive Scheme (VDIS) aims at encouraging disclosure of undeclared and under declared income/turnover.  

    Advance Payment System for Corporate Bodies

    245.        Sir, now that we have reduced the corporate tax rate to 15 percent, we need also to move towards standardization of the tax payment period.

    246.        Presently, for an employee and worker, income tax is payable monthly under the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system and it is automatically deducted when he receives his monthly salary.  Similarly, a self-employed and sole business proprietor is required to effect, under the Current Payment System (CPS) provisional income tax payments quarterly in the same year his income is generated. 

    SPECIAL LEVY ON BANKS

    240.        Mr Speaker, Sir, as we reduce corporate tax, companies will retain more resources for reinvestment or investment in new ventures. In the process, some companies that were paying tax at 25 percent one year ago will realise significant tax savings.  

    241.        The banking sector is known to be especially flourishing and profitable and has the capacity to pay.  I am, therefore, introducing a Special Levy on banks. The levy will apply only to profitable banks.  Computation of that special levy will be on the basis of turnover and of accounting profits. 

    TAX POLICY AND BUDGET OUTLOOK

    231.        Mr Speaker, Sir, last year, I took bold steps to reform our personal and corporate income tax system.  Because of its numerous tax breaks and exemptions, the system had become very complex and offered vast opportunities for abuse and tax avoidance. It led to inequity and inefficiency and was biased against small enterprises.  It was also hindering the emergence of a fully-integrated and competitive economy.

    EDUCATION

    227.        Mr Speaker, Sir, at the very outset of my first budget speech I highlighted the importance of education as a vehicle to shape our growth prospects. This is why we have increased the education budget from Rs 6.9 billion  to Rs 7.4  billion. 

    228.        Our vision is to transform Mauritius into a knowledge-based economy.  We have, therefore, opened the country to international institutions of learning. Ramachandra Medical School and Eastern are part of the first wave that we plan to attract.  Several institutions of high repute have expressed a keen interest to develop a campus in Mauritius.  In addition to becoming a hub and attracting foreign students, the entry of tertiary institutions will broaden the opportunities for our children to have access to Tertiary Education.

    (Page 1 of 3)   
    « Prev
      
    1
      2  3  Next »

    Categories