Minster at the President’s Office and co-chair of the Economic Council, Ahmed Zuhoor said on Thursday that the proposed airport development charge would be levied on both local and foreign passengers flying out of the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).
He clarified it at a meeting of the Parliament Budget Review Committee held Thursday.
In the State Budget for 2017, the government has proposed a raft of measures to cut spending and increase revenues, including the introduction of an airport development fee.
It has also proposed the establishment a sovereign development fund next year.
Minister Zuhoor told the budget committee that it was up to Parliament to decide how the airport development charge would be levied, adding that the government decided to impose the fee to recover a portion of the costs of developing the airport, which is estimated at US$1 billion.
According to the government, the project will increase the airport’s capacity to 7 million passengers per year.