Government urged to deliver tax cuts

According to The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), tax relief and public infrastructure investment should be priorities in the government’s next stimulus package.

In a statement released yesterday Peter Anderson, ACCI CEO, said the Chamber had urged the government in its pre-budget submission to adopt a stimulus package in the order of 2% of GDP to support the weak economy.

While the Chamber’s demands for infrastructure investment are likely to be met, tax cuts are less likely to form the bulk of any stimulus package after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned the government tax cuts would not have an immediate enough impact on the economy.

The government will reveal its second stimulus package for the economy today with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd saying yesterday “we are going to move heaven and earth to try and support growth in the economy”.

This came after Mr Rudd revealed that the economic crisis would leave a $115 billion tax revenue black hole in the federal budget.