The Weekend Statesman says the Year 2001 Budget presented to Parliament on Friday morning by Finance Minister Yaw Osafo Maafo, was expected, among others, to provide respite to those whose vehicles have been impounded at Ghana's ports for violating the ban on the importation of 10-year old vehicles!

Finance Ministry sources say the Minister was to set the stage for the fulfilment of an NPP campaign promise to scrap the law banning the importation of vehicles aged 10 years and above. Thus, even though a final decision on the issue has to be taken by Parliament, the budget will provide temporary relief to enable such vehicles to be cleared.

The VAT level was expected to be maintained with its area of coverage becoming wider.

"This year's budget will also seek to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, through the introduction of a progressive tax regime," indicated the source.

Reliefs were to be given to the poor while luxuries are targeted for tax increase. One such target is air travel, on which a special levy is to be slapped.

As part of measures to find out what went wrong, with a view to addressing them, the Budget was also expected to formally announce probes into about a dozen establishments, among them GNPC, TOR, BOST, SIC and SSNIT.