The central bank should regularly publish the amount of outstanding bills of exchange issued by commercial banks and publicise cases of defaults. Tax payments in the form of surrogate monies should not be allowed. Further disinflation is feasible and desirable, but the 5 per cent target emphasised in the draft 1998 budget is likely to be overshot. It requires perseverance with the prudent monetary policy conducted since 1995. The framework of a crawling exchange rate band has served its purpose well so far.
Tax reform is among the utmost of priorities.
The rule of law in this area must be spelled out clearly and an intelligible and stable tax system must be put in place. The remaining taxes should be streamlined. A much higher degree of stability should be guaranteed in tax rates and their corresponding regulations. Exemptions that still abound need to be closed. Retroactive changes in tax rules should be proscribed.