The Ethiopian Revenues and customs Authority (ERCA) announced that the government invested 191 billion birr that could have been obtained from tax and duties to encourage investors in the past five years, Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported.

The government provided incentives such as duty free import of goods and a five-year tax holidays for investors who are expected to contribute to the economic growth of Ethiopia.

Mr. Moges Balcha, Customs Program and Development Deputy Director General at ERCA, asserted that the government had offered 60 billion birr as incentive in 2007 EC alone and the incentives had shown a 31 percent annual growth.

Nevertheless, some investors are destroying the tax incentives by using, for instance, fraudulent documents to import goods and below standard equipment. In order to solve the problems, ERCA has prepared a new arrangement in partnership with institutions such as Investment Commissions, Ministry of Mines, Cooperative Agency, Charities and Societies Agency and Ministry of foreign affairs .This new arrangement will be implemented at the end of this Ethiopian fiscal year.

Source: Fana Broadcasting Corporate