.bmp)
.bmp)
TEHRAN-Iran's president ordered the suspension of a new value added tax (VAT) scheme after it sparked protests among influential bazaar merchants in Tehran and other cities, Iranian media reported on Saturday. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose government also plans other economic reforms in the world's fourth-largest oil producer ahead of a 2009 election, has told the Finance Ministry to put the measure on hold for two months, newspapers said.The move came a few days after gold jewelry merchants and some other bazaar traders in cities including the capital Tehran and Isfahan closed their shops to protest last month's introduction of a 3 percent VAT.Such work stoppages among bazaar merchants, an historically powerful business group, are rare in the Islamic Republic."This (the strike by shop-owners) has pushed the government to announce that it will review the new VAT mechanism," Iran's Press TV said.The ISNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad, widely expected to run for a second four-year term in a presidential election in June next year despite criticism over his economic policies, as saying in a letter to Finance Minister Shamseddin Hosseini:"In order to correctly execute this law and to study obstacles and problems and easing concerns...it is necessary (for you) to give me a plan and a proper solution within two months for the execution of this law."During this time, implementation of the VAT legislation would be suspended, Ahmadinejad said, adding the minister should consult with union representatives.Bazaar shop-owners feared that the VAT would increase prices and lower demand for their products. The government rejected the criticism and argued the overall tax burden would not increase.http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE49A0YP20081011
As in the days of Noah....
