As Gov­ern­ment moves to in­crease penal­ties through the Fi­nance Bill 2026, econ­o­mist Dr Vanus James says the mea­sures re­flect a search for ad­di­tion­al rev­enue, while busi­ness rep­re­sen­ta­tives are ques­tion­ing the lack of con­sul­ta­tion.

The Fi­nance Bill, laid in Par­lia­ment on Fri­day by Fi­nance Min­is­ter Dav­en­dranath Tan­coo, pro­pos­es in­creas­es to dozens of fines, in­clud­ing a jump from $2,000 to $8,000 for man­u­fac­tur­ing vine­gar for sale with­out a li­cence and from $4,000 to $8,000 for man­u­fac­tur­ing co­pra prod­ucts with­out a li­cence. Penal­ties for op­er­at­ing a sawmill with­out a li­cence and re­mov­ing tim­ber with­out a per­mit would rise from $100,000 to $150,000.

James said the mea­sures were un­der­stand­able giv­en Gov­ern­ment’s fis­cal po­si­tion.