KCCI warns of looming fiscal pressures

KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has warned that announcement of another mini-budget or imposition of additional taxes to overcome the yawning deficit would be disastrous for the economy.

KCCI Acting President Khurram Shahzad in a statement on Friday said industries and businesses, which were already underperforming due to imposition of exorbitant taxes in the budget for current fiscal year, would not sustain the impact of additional taxes.

Shahzad said business and industrial community was not in a position to bear any more of such shocks, which would lead to closure of many businesses and cause massive unemployment.

Referring to the forthcoming visit of the IMF team next week to discuss fiscal issues, Shahzad pointed out that under the IMF conditions; the primary deficit has to be brought down from 1.8 percent to 0.6 percent of GDP in the current fiscal, but, instead of declining, it has gone up to 3.6 percent.