Eyob Tekalign (PhD state minister for Finance and Adanech Abebe, (right), minister of Revenues at the panel discussion held at Skylight Hotel on December 31, 2019. __by Gelila samuel______________________________________ Following strong resistance from water bottlers, the Ministry of Finance is reviewing a new excise tax rate imposed on bottled water. Through their association, water bottlers strongly opposed the 15pc excise tax imposed on the selling price of bottled water products. Drafted by the Finance Ministry, the bill was tabled to legislators in parliament a few weeks ago. Last week the Budget & Finance Committee of the parliament held a public hearing on the bill, which is going to replace the 17-year-old proclamation. Bottled waters are categorised under the commodities that have a negative effect on the environment. With the proposed rate, the price for a litre of water will climb to 11.5 Br. The initiative for reviewing the tax rate of bottled waters arises following the public hearing at the parliament and a panel discussion jointly organised by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Revenues at Skylight Hotel. The discussion that was held on December 31, 2019, was attended by Eyob Tekalign (PhD), state minister for Finance, Adanech Abebe, minister of Revenues, Hiwot Mossia, state minister for Transport, and Eshete Asfaw, state minister for Trade & Industry.

The bottled water business is experiencing price drops. The Ethiopian Bottled Water and Soft Drink Manufacturing Industries Association (EBSMIA) says that at least two major brands have reduced prices.

According to the Association, the average price for a pack of half liter bottled water is 55 to 63 birr but now one company is selling the product for 38 birr.
Ashenafi Merid, General Manager of EBSMIA said that they are looking into the reasons behind the discounts. “The bottlers say that weather and competition are two major factors.” Ashenafi says EBSMIA wants to learn more. Consumption of bottled drinking water has been increasing and currently there are over 87 factories and new brands are joining every month.

18 December 2019
ታምሩ ጽጌ
ኤክሳይዝ ታክስ በኢንቨስትመንትና በሠራተኞች ላይ ጉዳት እንዳያደርስ ተሠግቷል

በሚኒስትሮች ምክር ቤት ፀድቆ ለሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት ከቀረበ አንድ ሳምንት ያሳለፈውን የኤክሳይዝ ታክስ ማሻሻያ ረቂቅ አዋጅ የተቃወሙ የውኃና ለስላሳ መጠጥ አምራቾች፣ ተቃውሞአቸውን ለሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት፣ ለገቢ፣ በጀትና ፋይናንስ ጉዳዮች ቋሚ ኮሚቴ አቀረቡ፡፡
አምራቾቹ ተቃውሞአቸውን ያቀረቡት በኢትዮጵያ የታሸገ ውኃና ለስላሳ መጠጦች አምራች ኢንዱስትሪዎች ማኅበር አማካይነት ነው፡፡