A Latvian business newspaper has expressed its scepticism at the IMF recommendation to repeal a planned cut in the corporate income tax rate in Latvia

The newspaper said the cut has been promised to businesses and they have based their plans on it. The following is the text of the unsigned editorial, entitled "Disadvantageous recommendations" and published in the Latvian newspaper Dienas Bizness on 20 June: The experts from the International Monetary Fund who are currently visiting our country's prime minister, economics minister and finance minister have recommended that the corporate income tax not be reduced from 19 to 15 per cent next year, as has been promised to the country's businessmen. It would be all right if these experts had come to Latvia, submitted their recommendations and then left. Then the story would have ended. Sadly, it looks as if this might not happen, because high-ranking Latvian government officials, including Transport Minister [Roberts] Zile and the chairwoman of the Saeima [parliament] Budget and Finance Commission, [Baiba] Brigmane, have listened to these wise viewpoints, concluding that they will be good enough in terms of patching up holes in the national budget. We must not forget that every single businessman in Latvia has counted on the previous government's decision to reduce the corporate income tax rate. They have planned their operations in line with this promise. There can be no doubt, it seems, that when government officials "listen" to IMF experts, that might cause serious losses to the business world. We must also remember that once Latvia joins the European Union, our businessmen will have to face many kinds of expenditures if their operations are to be in line with EU standards. The reduction in the corporate income tax rate would help them to a certain extent in this regard.