Fiji has a huge ‘black economy’ problem says Finance Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
Sayed-Khaiyum says a study of 162 economies of the world for the years1999-2000 by the World Bank in 2007 revealed that in Fiji, 32.4 per cent of the official GDP was not accounted for.
This means that from 1999 to 2000, $2.8 billion was not part of the official economy
Sayed-Khaiyum says this translates into approximately $716.2 million has not been collected through tax revenue.
He says some measures have been put in place to address the issue.
“Since 2007, a number of laws have been introduced for example the fines imposed have increased. Directors of companies are now liable. We now have declaration of assets by politicians, we have declaration of assets by political parties because this is where money was laundered. This is to ensure greater compliance.”
Sayed-Khaiyum was responding to a question posed by MP Sanjit Patel, in Parliament this morning.
