adminOliver Kazunga Acting Business Editor
THE Affirmative Action Group (AAG) will early next year lobby the Government to temporarily exempt some businesses from meeting their statutory obligations in order to resuscitate the industries. In an interview, AAG national vice-president Sam Ncube said they were some quasi-government organisations that presently require a moratorium on meeting tax obligations to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra).
“As an economic empowerment group, we have noted with concern that there are certain companies that at present are behind in terms of meeting their statutory obligations to like sales tax and Pay As You Earn to Zimra. As such, the companies cannot renew their tax clearance certificates.
“In light of such a situation, if Government waits for them to make good with Zimra, that will not help the country in any way especially at a time when economic revival is critical.
“As AAG, we are saying can there be a moratorium in terms of meeting statutory obligations by certain businesses especially quasi-government organisations to promote revival of the economy,” he said.
“If Government through Zimra say it wants payment first that defeats the whole idea of resuscitating the economy.”
Commenting on next year’s $4,02 billion national budget, Ncube said the Minister of Finance and Economic Development Patrick Chinamasa showed commitment in coming up with a budget aimed at rescuing the country from the economic quagmire it was presently reeling under.
“There are some positives in the national budget that indicate pragmatic solutions for the economy. For example, Bulawayo was allocated $130 million for the revival of Bulawayo industries and construction of the much-awaited Matabeleland National Zambezi Water Project.
“In the previous budget, Distressed Industries and Marginalised Areas Fund was allocated $40 million but this time around the fund has been allocated a significant amount of resources. That on its own shows efforts by Government to resuscitate firms in Bulawayo,” he said.
While presenting the fiscal policy statement, Minister Chinamasa proclaimed that the 2014 budget was policy based, anchored on the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset).
“In view of the challenges that the economy is facing, this budget proposes to introduce various confidence building measures that are necessary to move the economy along the trajectory envisaged under ZimAsset, our new economic blueprint for the next five years.
Online Reporter