MOGADISHU, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Traders in Somalia's largest market, Bakara, on Sunday boycotted business over what they termed as punitive tax measures imposed by the government.

Traders told Xinhua that they will keep off from the Mogadishu-based market until the federal government scraps the 5 percent mandatory sales tax it imposed recently.

"As you see the market has closed and we will continue until the government responds to our complaint about the tax," Abdisamad Mohamed, one of the traders, told Xinhua.

"We are not refusing to pay taxes but this is heavy burden for our business," Mohamed said. "We are requesting the government to take steps to lower it."

Another trader, Shariff Abdullahi, said the imposition of taxes had stalled business as traders cannot collect their goods from the port in Mogadishu.

"We have imported goods from the port and we cannot pick them because of the taxes the government has imposed," Abdullahi said.

However, Somali Finance Minister Abdirahman Beileh has maintained that taxes must be paid to enable the government to offer services.

Beileh told the media last week that the government had arrived at the decision and that it was not optional.

"Today I clarified the purpose of the sales tax and the importance of paying legally mandated taxes to the Somali people. The payment, collection and budgeted utilization of these funds is a must for Somali development," Beileh said. "We must finance our future. This is the bottom line."

Somali parliament late last year passed a 274 million U.S. dollar budget for 2018, and Beileh noted that the government would bolster efforts to mobilize domestic tax collection to finance the budget as the country seeks to cut dependence on foreign donors.

The government has not yet responded to the ongoing strike.