According to the People's National Party Youth Organisation (PNPYO), the special consumption tax on gas is "nothing less than a back-door imposition of a general-consumption tax, because of the input-output relationship of the impact of fuel on the production cost of all consumer items".

The group contends that the gas tax would force an approximate 15 per cent increase in the transportation of goods. This, said the PNPYO, would have a greater impact on rural areas, which were more depressed by the current economic realities.

In a release yesterday, the PNPYO suggested how Finance Minister Audley Shaw could have increased Government revenue.

It recommended that the Government sign a memorandum of understanding with hotels, whereby only those that consumed 60 per cent of their total purchases in Jamaican products could receive the half GCT waiver, which now amounts to approximately $2 billion.

The PNPYO said the proposed increase in the income tax threshold was "nothing but a farce".

"What about the approximately 250,000 minimum-wage earners, or the 135,000 unemployed individuals, or the 1,400,000 persons who are outside the labour force? This is a preconceived trick to hide the true negatives of the biggest tax package this country has ever seen."