Economy Minister says the government will be introducing VAT exemption on a range of medical supplies.

The Economy Minister says the government will be introducing VAT exemption on a range of medical supplies effective immediately.

This is to help the ministry in its response to the COVID-19 situation.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says this will help the work of the contact tracing team to nip emerging COVID-19 outbreak in the bud.

“Hand sanitizers, antibacterial hand wash, vaccinations, hospital beds, scanners and cameras used in medical examination, ethanol for companies that are already involved in hand sanitizer production, disinfectants, hydrogen peroxide, paper bags sheets and other specialized supplies”.

Sayed-Khaiyum says the customer’s tariff act will also see significant changes in the form of fiscal duty with a few items to have fiscal duties reduced to zero percent.

Sayed-Khaiyum says many of these items were already exempt only for the public health sector but it will now be extended to the private sector.