Kebba Satou Touray made the comment yesterday while fielding questions from lawmakers during a sitting for the adoption of the country’s 2015 budget proposal which stands at over 10 billion dalasi.
He stated: “To the deputy speaker and majority leader, we appreciate your comments especially for poultry products and the excise tax on cigarettes. However, caution must be taken as to the issue of smuggling, evaluation and also the quality that should be introduced at the local level. Every measure to encourage local production has to go with some responsibility on the part of local producers. This is if we can impose a 35 percent tariff on imported poultry products, we are discouraging importation of poultry products and then encouraging local production.”
The finance minister said the new tax measures will augur well in terms of discouraging importation of poultry products, such as chicken and at the same time encourage large-scale production locally.
He continued: “But that means those producing locally have a responsibility both in terms of quality, and also in terms of price. We do not want this to result in local producers selling their products at whatever price they want. This is not the objective and these measures will be accompanied by monitoring at the local level. The government will provide all the necessary incentives and the necessary policy environment to ensure that local producers can expand their operation. But we also want to make sure that the price that they sell these products are right and that the prices of the market are also right.”
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