Vaswani: Lowering taxes won’t hurt economy

With consumers and businesses facing high costs, Government can consider reducing taxation without doing damage to the economy’s long-term sustainability, suggests businessman Lalu Vaswani.

Vaswani, chair of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (BCCI) customs and trade facilitation committee, made the suggestion yesterday, especially in relation to the two per cent fee on foreign exchange transactions and the rate of value added tax (VAT). He was speaking during a BCCI press conference at Braemar Court, Deighton Road, St Michael.

Vaswani said that based on reports from the Central Bank of Barbados and others, Barbados no longer had a foreign exchange challenge that required the two per cent fee, which he said was a cost for businesses and individuals.