Hari Punja gives Budget Thumbs Up

The Budget was delivered last week.

After all the speculation andrumours, the Interim Minister for Finance delivered the budget at a glitzy event .

Among the notable attendees were former interim Minister for Finance M.P. Chaudhry.

LF sources indicate that M.P Chaudhry and Commodore Bainimarama were in high spirits and exchanged jokes. In keeping with the recent times, Mr John Samy featured prominently.

The Budget has received the Thumbs Up from Fijis version of Donald Trump, Hari Punja. Mr Punja called the budget "business friendly"

Maybe because the company tax rate went down in the 2009 budget.

Why wouldnt he be happy?

More saqamoli for him and the family. Its not called Punja and Sons for nothing.

The personal tax rate remained unchanged.

So, its no wonder that Mr Punja was singing the praise for the budget.

The logic behind the cut is to encourage business investment. In other words, businessmen like Hari Punja will build new factories and hire more workers.

There is one big catch in this .

The profits go overseas to Mr Punjas family members, none of whom live permanently in Fiji.

Nope.

Be it Tappoos, Punjas, Motibhai...they all spend majority of their time in Australia and NZ. In Fiji, all their business is debt financed. Its not their money they are investing.

Its all on credit people and successive governments have given them "tax incentives" like you wouldnt believe.

Imagine if you had a 15 year tax holiday....wouldn't you be laughing all the way to the bank.

INDEPENDENT,BALANCED,IMPARTIAL.

Chaudhry v Punja

Hari Punja, arguably Fijis richest man, met with the Interim PM, Commodore Frank Bainimarama to complain about the exchanges between his company and Interim Finance Minister , M.P Chaudhry.

This meeting takes on greater significance in that Commodore Bainimarama met with Hari Punja when his Finance Minister had declined his numerous requests.

Well placed sources in Government Building indicate that Commodore Bainimarama was sending a not too subtle message to Chaudhry that while MPC may be the man controlling the money, he is the BOSS.

It is reported that Hari Punja has put on hold $30 m of planned investments because of "changing rules" as he put it.

It appears that Mr Punja is a bit upset that he no longer has preferential treatment at the Ministry of Finance like he did in the past. He is also upset that preferential tax concessions that were available to him have been removed meaning he has to operate like any other business.

Documents seized by the authorities, indicate that previously Mr Punja had been promised a tax holiday for up to 50 years on his proposed factory meaning that effectively, Fiji taxpayers wouls have subsidised his business gamble.

The history between the Punjas and MPC is well known to all in Fiji. MPC had removed the tariffs on imported rice after coming to power in 1999 and this had caused major losses to the Punja rice empire.

The Punjas never forgave him for this and according to former CRW solider, Barabados Mills, a high chief had promised each CRW soldier $100,000 for their part in the coup. Money which according to him "came from Harry".

Is Hari Punja the elsuive Harry?

This account was backed up by former head of 3FIR, Lt Col. Seruvakula who was offered $200,00 to take his 3FIR into Parliament, as revealed to the Loyal Fijian some years ago before he left for NZ.