VENTURE CAPITAL POST

The European Commision has been alarmed with rising problems on fraud and fragmentation. Realizing the need to relax VAT rules, they made an action upon it.

The oil production in Colombia is poised to drop below the target of one million barrels per day in 2016 following the slowing down of drilling activity and ageing of major oil fields.

The debt-ridden Island Puerto Rico has opted for value-added tax (VAT) as a measure to enhance revenues for the government. The new VAT structure will come into force starting1 April 2016.

Puerto Rico is jacking up its sales tax in a bid to address its fiscal problems. This is considered a regressive move that could ultimately hurt the country's bottom line and its countless poor people.

On a stiflingly hot summer night, the ancient Greek amphitheatre of Epidaurus is packed to capacity for a performance of a 2,400-year-old play by Aristophanes -- testimony to Greeks' enduring love of theater despite years of grinding economic crisis.

Greek depositors lined up outside banks Monday as banks reopened three weeks after closing their doors. But while people can now withdraw money, restrictions remain and, with new taxes, they will have to shell out more for goods and services.

Greece's government is confident of reaching a deal with its creditors this week and is open to pushing back parts of its anti-austerity program to make that happen, the country's interior minister said Saturday.

Greece expects to reach a cash-for-reforms deal with its creditors in the next 10 days and aims to meet all its payments in June, the government's spokesman said on Friday, after the prime minister met with EU leaders.

Officials of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council agreed at the weekend to keep working toward the introduction of a value-added tax around the region, in a sign that low oil prices may be strengthening support for the idea.