The government in Mali acknowledged a new increase in alcohol taxes, and another on communication networks and money shipping operations through mobile phone applications.
The Minister of Economy and Finance Alusini Sano said that the new increase in taxes comes in the context of compensation for the suspension of foreign aid that came from partners and donors.
The Minister justified this measure of the need to depend on self -reliance and enhance the financial sovereignty that the ruling military council considers essentially an independence.
The government expects to increase new taxes to overcoming the budget deficit and financing public spending on community projects.
The Minister of Finance stressed that his government recently increased in the salary bloc of 400 billion African francs (630 million dollars), and this requires that work to fill new sources of income.
The issuance of the new tax law – which was approved by the Council of Ministers on February 5 – coincided with the Ministry of Minerals’ announcement of a significant decrease in gold production, which reached 23%, as the past general production volume stopped at the threshold of 51 tons compared to 66.5 tons in 2023.
Some economic reports say that low production is caused by the tension between the government and foreign mining companies, especially the “Baric Gold”, “Resort Maining” companies and “BT Gold Group” group.
In interaction with the debate caused by the increase in taxes, the government presented a referendum on the official page of the Confederation of Sahel countries in X to take opinions on the new increase.
This referendum attracted 1707 votes, 75% showed its support for the new procedure, while it was opposed to 25%.
