Business community split on planned Saturday strike

ISLAMABAD: The business community is split over a proposed shutter-down strike on July 19, amid ongoing talks with government officials over FBR’s extraordinary powers in Finance Act 2025. Following marathon discussions with four cabinet ministers, the government formed a committee to address concerns within 30 days.

The apex body of businessmen, the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FPCCI), called off the strike after the announcement of a committee led by Haroon Akhtar, but certain chambers, including Lahore and Karachi, announced that they would observe a strike. “We will only call off the strike call if the government defers implementation of the Finance Act 2025, including arrest powers under 37A, payment of Rs200,000 through cash and others in writing,” the presidents of Lahore and Karachi Chambers announced outside the Q Block (Finance Ministry) building at Pak Secretariat here on Tuesday.

After a three-hour meeting with the finance minister, FPCCI President Atif Ikram Sheikh announced that a committee had been formed to resolve all outstanding issues, effectively calling off the planned July 19 strike.

During his media talk, the President of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industries stated that they would observe a strike on July 19 and many other chambers would also do so. They were of the view that till the deferment of different clauses of Finance Act 2025 they would not withdraw their strike call. “We will go for strike,” said the President of Lahore Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) outside the Q Block.

The government has already enacted Finance Act 2025 after seeking assent of the parliament and the President and the reversal seems difficult under the IMF programme, said the FBR sources.

According to Ministry of Finance statement, a high-level meeting was held in Islamabad under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb with representatives of Pakistan’s business community, chambers of commerce, and traders’ associations to discuss concerns related to Section 37A and other provisions introduced under the Finance Act 2025. The minister for finance assured the business community of government’s full cooperation and transparency, emphasizing that the objective is solely to prevent large-scale tax fraud and there was no intention to harass legitimate and honest businesses.

It was decided in the meeting that a committee would be formed under the Chairmanship of Haroon Akhtar Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Industries and Production. The committee will also include Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani, PM’s Coordinator on Trade Rana Ehsan Afzal Khan, FBR Chairman Rashid Mehmood Langrial, and representatives nominated by the business community and chambers of commerce. The committee will hold detailed deliberations over the next 30 days and present a consensus-based and workable solution to the prime minister and the federal cabinet.