Angry shopkeepers yesterday blasted the Budget as too little -- and maybe too late -- to save some struggling retailers.

Ian Smith, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce retail division, said: "The chamber is disappointed at the level of relief given to the retail sector.'' Mr. Smith added: "This Budget has done very little to help retail's role within the Bermuda economy in the reduction of prices paid by the visitor and the Bermudian alike.

"It is widely recognised that retail plays a major role in the tourism picture -- so once again it is disappointing, to put it mildly, that our industry did not receive similar concessions to those enjoyed in the hotel and restaurant sectors.'' And he warned the Budget may mean job losses in his sector -- the major employer of Bermudians.

The international business sector of the Chamber was taking a more relaxed view -- but chairman of the section, David Ezekiel, said changes to payroll tax would hit some of his members hard.

Mr. Smith said that tinkering with payroll and land taxes was not enough of a lifeline for his members.

Retailers not pleased Mr. Smith admitted: "We're still trying to work out exactly what it means -- but it'll mean very little in dollars.'' He added that Government's election manifesto had promised duty-free shopping -- but it had not yet materialised.

Mr. Smith said: "This is their first Budget, or first proper Budget, and there is nothing of the sort.

"We were hoping for duty-free -- we didn't get it. We were hoping for no duty on materials for display items and renovation, but we didn't get that, either.

"To be honest, we were really disappointed. There was nothing in there for us.'' And he said: "As the major employers of Bermudians, we are deeply concerned for our staff as the results of this Budget, as we see it, will only lead to an acceleration in the reduction of employment.'' He added that retailers had wanted a sharp drop in land taxes and a distinction between retail and office space -- but had got a half-percent cut to 5.5 percent, instead, along with other commercial premises.

He said: "You can run a multi-million dollar business from small offices -- but retailers need floor space and warehouse space.'' Mr. Smith added that the major duty change affecting retailers was a flat rate in duty for natural and synthetic fibres.

But he said that changing the 2.5 percent duty on natural fibres and 22.5 percent duty on synthetic fibres to a flat rate of 10 percent for both would hurt Bermuda's high-class shopping image.

Mr. Smith explained: "This will have a knock-on effect of severely damaging the business of our tourist-orientated clothing stores, who specialise in quality products made of natural fibres such as silks, cottons, wools and cashmere items.

"The smaller retailer who deals almost entirely in natural fibres will now feel the 400 percent increase without any benefits from a reduction in the synthetic fibres.'' And he warned: "Some retailers who specialise in natural fibres could go under tomorrow -- they're the ones we've really got to worry about now.'' He added that buyers may now also opt for cheaper, synthetic clothes because the duty is now the same -- hitting Bermuda's upmarket retail image.

But Mr. Smith admitted: "If I wasn't a retailer, I'd be saying this isn't a bad Budget.'' And he said his sector welcomed a boost for education and training -- particularly the $70 million-plus commitment to bringing the Berkeley Institute on stream as the second senior secondary school.

But he added that Premier Jennifer Smith had called for retailing to "reinvent'' itself -- which he said he assumed meant bright, modern, attractive stores.

But Mr. Smith warned: "Nobody is going to invest with duty of nearly 25 percent -- that's a lot of money.'' He added: "As far as tourism, we're looking for at placing Bermuda in the high end of the market and we have hit that side of the industry.'' And Mr. Smith said the Budget had also failed to address "the overall price imbalance'' between Bermuda and the US -- where the majority of tourists travel from.'' The main change affecting international business is an end to the choice of reporting individual real salaries for payroll tax or an "assumed figure'' -- currently around the $70,000 mark. But a cap of $250,000 will be put in place under the new regulations.

The change came -- in part -- to take account of an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development insistence on level playing fields for domestic and international companies in offshore jurisdictions.

Mr. Ezekiel said: "There will be some winners and some losers -- but we did a survey and some international businesses will be affected very substantially.

"In a perfect world, I would like to have seen some phasing in of this, but at the same time, I fully understand the need to address the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's concerns.

"But it is worrying because some of our members might see a substantial increase in their payroll tax bills.'' Mr. Ezekiel added his members had not had a chance to examine the land tax changes, with a small cut in the commercial rate, but increases in the upper end of the housing market.

He said: "It's a fairly easy option of increasing taxes on the wealthier groups, but that needs to be measured very closely because they typically seem to be the job creators in our economy, so it's important to encourage them to stay here.'' Mr. Ezekiel added that increased charges by the Post Office should mean increased efficiency -- perhaps through automation.

He said: "It's clearly one of the major weak links in our infrastructure and continues to be so.'' But Mr. Ezekiel said he accepted a Budget with a strong emphasis on social services was part of the "repositioning'' of the new Government to reflect its agenda.'' And he welcomed a commitment to cutting the cost of Government -- a concern of international companies for years.

Mr. Ezekiel added that the cost of Government "for a number of years has been inordinate here.'' And he said: "The proof of the pudding will be in the eating and it remains to be seen how that's carried through. There needs to be some meaningful reductions in the cost of Government.

"If you read the Budget speech, there certainly seems to be some acknowledgement of that.'' And he said the 3.7 percent increase in spending and increased borrowing were not things "to make people jump up and down about.'' But he said: "We will find members who will have quantum increases in the payroll tax and we still have to see what the impact of the land tax will be.

"However, if things spoken about in the Budget are followed through, we will see real progress being made.''