UN Escap urges widening tax base to finance new investment
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Asia Pacific countries are urged to broaden their tax bases to cope with the pressing need of better infrastructure against low tax income and high public debt, said a UN report.
Such is vital given higher rates in the US will likely cut annual growth in various countries including Thailand by between 0.7-0.9 percentage point this year. Other countries to be affected by the withdrawal of quantitative easing by the United States are India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Russian Federation, Thailand and Turkey.
According to the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2014, the annual flagship publication of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), structural constraints, such as infrastructure and development deficits, along with external challenges, are keeping the region from realising its economic potential.
South-East Asia’s economy is set to grow slower at 4.6 per cent from 4.9 per cent last year. Regionwide, developing countries in the region are forecast to grow at an average of 5.8 per cent in 2014, up from 5.6 per cent last year. This marks the third successive year of growth below 6 per cent. By comparison, growth averaged 9.5 per cent in the pre-crisis years of 2005-2007 and over 7 per cent in 2010 and 2011.
“The constrained domestic growth prospects of the region have underlined the importance of productive countercyclical public spending to support
inclusive growth and sustainable development,” United Nations Under-Secretary-General and ESCAP Executive Secretary Dr. Shamshad Akhtar said.
