ISLAMANAD: While unveiling improvement in Business Confidence Survey, the Overseas Investors Chambers of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) asked the government to bring down tax rates of Super Tax, Corporate sector and General Sales Tax (GST) in the coming budget.
The OICCI, a representative body of 200 multinational companies operating in Pakistan, unveiled the Business Confidence Index (BCI) during a news conference on Thursday.
After holding a meeting with the Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, the OICCI shared their findings and found that business sentiment showed strong recovery in last two years as it improved from negative 25 percent in May 2023 to positive 11 percent in May 2025. There are six key factors for improvement in business confidence, including economic stability, government policies, political stability, inflation and interest rate reduction, energy situation/electricity and fuel cost and improved law and order situation. The chairman Nestle and PTC were also present on the occasion.
About the upcoming budget, Abdul Aleem stated that they asked the government to abolish Super Tax in a gradual manner, bring down corporate tax rates from 29 to 25 percent, and slash GST from 18 to 15 percent in a phased manner.
The Business Confidence survey reflects significant improvement in overall business confidence, which improved substantially by 16 percentage points from negative 5 percent to positive 11 percent, compared to the previous wave conducted in October November 2024. The positive shift can be largely attributed to macroeconomic stability, declining inflation, and anticipated improvements in business conditions over the next six months. The manufacturing sector led the recovery in the overall business confidence, improving from negative 3 percent to positive 15 percent, followed by the retail/wholesale sectors, which rose from negative 18 percent in the previous wave to positive 2 percent in the latest survey. The services sector maintained a steady outlook and jumped from 2 percent to 10 percent positive.
“The uptick in business confidence is a clear sign that our economic direction is on the right track. We are focused on creating a conducive environment for investment, supporting private sector growth, and ensuring long-term macroeconomic resilience. The improved sentiment among businesses is both encouraging and a validation of our collective efforts,” Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said.
Commenting on the BCI Wave findings, Yousaf Hussain, President OICCI, stated: “Over the past two years, overall business confidence has shown a notable improvement across the business community. This sharp recovery in the Business Confidence reflects the resilience of Pakistan’s business sector and its readiness to seize emerging growth opportunities. To maintain this growing positivity in the business confidence, Yousaf Hussain added, “there must be greater policy consistency, transparency and active engagement with the key stakeholders including OICCI members.” The BCI Wave Survey revealed increased optimism for the next six months, with 45 percent of the respondents expressing positive expectations. Key contributors to the positive outlook include economic growth, improved government policies, investment climate, and security situation.
Despite the positive trend, 53 percent of the survey respondents reported a negative outlook on business conditions over the past six months, a substantial improvement from 66 percent negative sentiments in Wave 26. The key concerns in survey were political stability, rupee FX parity, energy, and trade policies.