KUWAIT CITY, Aug 11: The Cabinet has asked the Ministry of Finance to prepare ordinance for imposing tax on tobacco and its derivatives, reports Al-Anba daily. According to highly reliable sources from the ministry, the Cabinet instructed the Ministry to coordinate with the Fatwa and Legislation Department in drafting the ordinance.

Sources explained this step is part of the implementation of a decision taken by the Gulf Cooperation Council to address the low qualitative tax for tobacco and its derivatives as stated in the unified GCC customs charges, by increasing it to double the current minimum charges. Sources added the ordinance will be implemented in September.

Meanwhile, other sources expect the ministerial Financial Committee to complete deliberations on a study conducted by Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) on merging the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with the Technical Agency for Privatization Program.

A report published earlier by the daily revealed that the Cabinet is waiting for the opinion of the represented bodies in the committee due to many similarities in terms of specialties and work between the PPP and privatization program. This is in addition to looking at the possibility of avoiding risks indicated by the technical agency headed by the minister of commerce and industry. Practical solutions and comprehensive studies are required before taking final decisions to avoid these risks, sources added.

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