The Fiji Retailers Association has welcomed the interim government's decision to increase the tax threshold from $9000 to $15,000.

Association President Himmat Lodhia said this decision will be a boost for the middle income earners meaning they will have much needed extra dollars in their pockets.

He said reduction on selected basic food items to a new duty rate of zero percent is something that people will welcome whole-heartedly. He said Fiji would have gone to double digit inflation in a short time with the pattern in which costs were escalating.

Lodhia said the decision taken by the interim government is a smart economical and political move.