XN000022-1992-03-09 — Page 2

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 1992

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BUDGET HAS TO BE CONSIDERED AS A PACKAGE

THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY, MR HAMISH MACLEOD, TODAY (MONDAY) REITERATED HIS FIRM CONVICTION THAT THE BUDGET HAD TO BE LOOKED AT AS A PACKAGE.

"I

IF WE START UNSTITCHING IT AND TRYING TO NEGOTIATE ON

SITUATION. AND I DON'T THINK THAT IT IS IN ANYONE'S INTEREST TO HAVE UNCERTAINTY ABOUT SOMETHING AS IMPORTANT AS THE BUDGET, HE SAID.

PARTICULAR PARTS OF IT, THEN IT REALLY BECOMES AN IMPOSSIBLE

Fi

SPEAKING TO REPORTERS AFTER HIS MEETING WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF THE CO-OPERATIVE RESOURCES CENTRE, MR MACLEOD SAID DIALOGUE WITH GROUPS OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL MEMBERS WAS USEFUL TO BOTH SIDES, BUT WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE BUDGET PACKAGE, IT HAD TO BE A PACKAGE.

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"I UNDERSTAND THEIR CONCERN THAT ALLOWANCES IN SALARIES TAX SHOULD KEEP PACE WITH INFLATION, MR MACLEOD SAID, UNDERLINING A POINT IN THE GOVERNMENT PRESS RELEASE ISSUED LAST SATURDAY THAT SALARIES TAX ALLOWANCES HAD INDEED OVER THE PERIOD SINCE 1980 AND ALSO OVER THE PERIOD FROM 86/87 TO THE PRESENT BEEN INCREASED IN LINE WITH INFLATION.

"PARTICULARLY IF YOU ALSO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE REVISIONS IN TAX-BANDS, OF WHICH THERE HAVE BEEN A LARGE NUMBER."

THERE HAVE BEEN FIVE REVISIONS IN THE TAX-BANDS SINCE 1979-80.

"SO ROUGHLY SPEAKING IF YOU LOOK BACK YOU WILL SEE THAT ROUGHLY EVERY TWO YEARS OR SO WE REVISED THE TAX-BANDS. IT IS NOT AT ALL UNUSUAL. WE'VE DONE IT FREQUENTLY, HE SAID.

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REFERRING TO THE SANDWICH CLASS, MR MACLEOD SAID HE DID HAVE SYMPATHY FOR THEM, BUT THE BASIC PROBLEM WAS NOT THE TAX SYSTEM BUT PROPERTY PRICES.

"THE FACT IS FOR

WHATEVER REASONS, THE PARTICULARLY IN THE SMALL RESIDENTIAL FLATS, HAVE HORRENDOUS PERCENTAGES OVER THE LAST YEAR,

PROPERTY PRICES, RISEN BY PRETTY

"IT IS A REAL PROBLEM. IT IS A PROBLEM THAT WE TRIED TO TACKLE IN RECENT MONTHS BY THE STAMP DUTY MEASURE TO REDUCE SPECULATION," НЕ POINTED OUT.

"I THINK WE WILL HAVE TO KEEP A VERY CLOSE EYE ON PROPERTY PRICES AND I NOTICED THAT THERE HAS BEEN SOME SPECULATION IN THE NEWSPAPERS RECENTLY THAT PRICES MAY BE ABOUT TO GO UP AGAIN, AND THAT THE BANKS MAY BE GOING TO LOOSEN THEIR LENDING CRITERIA.

BANKS

**I HAVE HAD THAT CHECKED. I HAVE HAD THE MAIN LENDING APPROACHED IN THE LAST FEW DAYS, AND THEY HAVE CONFIRMED TO ME THAT THEY HAD NO SUCH PLANS.

/"THERE WERE