1 wealth tax ‘would fix gulf budget shortfalls avert social unrest’
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

1% wealth tax ‘would fix Gulf budget shortfalls, avert social unrest’

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today 1% wealth tax ‘would fix Gulf budget shortfalls, avert social unrest’

Top CEO Conference
KAEC - Arab Today

A proposed 1 percent tax on the wealthiest citizens of the Gulf would fix the region’s budget deficits and stave off the possibility of social unrest, a prominent financial expert said.
Regional economies including Saudi Arabia have been hit hard by the drop in oil prices, boosting the need for reforms such as subsidy cuts and the introduction of a value-added tax (VAT).
But one seasoned financial expert said another measure would be even more effective: A tax on the rich.
Khalid Abdulla-Janahi, group chief executive of Dar Al Mal Al Islami Trust (DMI Trust), said that there is “a much better way” to close the budget gap than the existing reforms.
He proposes an annual 1 percent “wealth tax” on people with $5 million or more in assets — something that would allow governments to funnel more money into education.
“Imagine how much money you would raise,” he told Arab News.
“That would clean up your deficit for the next 10 years, easily. That would give you more income, to really invest in the right direction, after all the wrong investments that we’ve done in the past.
“So much wealth has been created in this part of the world. So people should pay.” Janahi, who has over 30 years of experience in banking and financial services, said that this could also help avert possible social unrest in the region.  
“I’m worried about social disruption,” he said. “In order that you don’t create social unrest, you need to manage this, I think, in a much better way that has been done with the VAT and everything else. So the wealth tax is one solution.”
Janahi, who is also an Arab News columnist, said that he had raised this idea in high-level meetings. “Of course, it falls on deaf ears because the majority of people who come to these meetings are the so-called elite,” he said.
The expert was speaking on the sidelines of the Top CEO Conference in King Abdullah Economic City. He took part in a panel discussion on public-private partnerships (PPP) at the event, which was moderated by Frank Kane, Arab News' senior business columnist.
Janahi said he was involved in the region’s first real-estate PPP — but would not work on future PPPs with regional governments under current circumstances, due to a “lack of transparency in implementation, and because of the wrong people in the right places.”
Other members of the panel discussion were however more positive on the potential of PPPs.
Naif Al-Rasheed, CEO of Investment and Real Estate Development (NRDC) at Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Housing, and adviser to the minister, said that the financial structure was key to the Kingdom’s ambitious house-building plans. Saudi Arabia has a five-year plan to build some 800,000 housing units.
“(With) housing in Saudi historically, the government has been playing this Big Brother role of providing the unit for each beneficiary, and they did that by directly developing the units,” Al-Rasheed told the Top CEO panel. “This could never be sustainable model for the future.”
The Saudi government is looking to boost home ownership in the Kingdom to 52 per cent by 2020, from around 47 or 48 percent today.
“To do that, you cannot just rely on government funding. And that’s why PPP is extremely necessary.”
Danish Faruqui, managing director in the Parthenon-EY practice of Ernst & Young in India, said the PPP model also worked well in the education sector.
“PPP in education is actually not just a reality, it’s the need of the hour,” he said. “It is the way forward for most of the world, specifically the region and Saudi Arabia.”

Source: Arab News

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

1 wealth tax ‘would fix gulf budget shortfalls avert social unrest’ 1 wealth tax ‘would fix gulf budget shortfalls avert social unrest’

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

1 wealth tax ‘would fix gulf budget shortfalls avert social unrest’ 1 wealth tax ‘would fix gulf budget shortfalls avert social unrest’

 



GMT 08:23 2017 Monday ,03 April

Tesla tops quarterly sales forecast

GMT 20:11 2017 Saturday ,25 March

Former head of Egypt’s syndicate submits appeal

GMT 05:28 2017 Sunday ,26 November

Gas exporters call for 'fair price'

GMT 10:51 2018 Tuesday ,11 December

Cloudy weather with rain showers forecast Tuesday

GMT 20:00 2017 Monday ,25 September

Tourism minister leaves for France to attend Top Resa

GMT 22:07 2017 Tuesday ,02 May

UAE soldier martyred in Yemen

GMT 00:25 2017 Sunday ,10 September

Philippines Sees the Bloodiest

GMT 20:21 2017 Wednesday ,08 November

Ambassador Aizaz Chaudhry met members of Congress in US

GMT 09:31 2017 Monday ,16 October

Dalal Abdel Aziz happy for “Seventh Neighbor”

GMT 18:16 2017 Monday ,25 December

Sharjah Ruler issues Emiri Decree on SGMB functions

GMT 13:16 2017 Sunday ,15 October

Qatari sheikh says assets frozen over Gulf crisis

GMT 12:50 2017 Saturday ,11 November

ICC prosecutor calls for Afghanistan war crimes probe

GMT 13:28 2012 Friday ,17 February

NYT\'s Anthony Shadid dies in Syria

GMT 16:44 2017 Friday ,01 September

Al-Bashir to partake in OIC Summit in Kazakhstan
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday