Over 40 chambers, trade bodies concerned over tax, revenue, expenditure targets

ISLAMABAD: Leaders and representatives of over forty chambers of commerce and trade associations have expressed serious reservations over tax, revenue and expenditure targets in the budget and termed it anti-business.

They said that businesses need support for their survival as coronavirus has damaged economy to a great extent but it seems that authorities are bent upon punishing the business community.

This was observed during a meeting held with Chairman of FBR’s Advisory Council of FPCCI Mian Zahid Hussain in chair.

Those who participated included VP FPCCI Khurram Ijaz, Saquib Fayyaz Magoon, Shabbir Hassan Mansha, Dr. Jassumal, Amin Balgamwala, Ikraam-ul-Haq Qureshi, Rehan Chawla, Dr. Shahla Javed, Aadil Ghaffar, Om Parkash, Sameer Hussain, Shahid Laghari, Arif Kapoor, Imran Ghani, Rehan Ellahi and President Multan Chamber Sheikh Fazal Elahi.

They said that pandemic has damaged travel and tour operators, religious tourism, Hajj, and Umrah operators, overseas employment promotion, restaurants and other hospitality businesses which should be bailed out.

Virus, lockdown, and budget has also dented CNG, paper and tire importers, and cotton ginning as well as fertilizer industry has slipped in red threatening thousands of jobs. The business leaders noted that rice exporters and women entrepreneurs are also feeling the brunt of misdirected policies. They demanded that small and medium businesses should get up to five million in loans without collateral and their bank cheques should be accepted as collateral.

Hotels, motels, homes and huts at tourist spots are vacant since months while Saquib Fayyaz Magoon said that and that globally the tourism industry has suffered losses to the tune of 195 billion dollars while the whole year losses have been estimated to be 1.2 trillion dollars. The pandemic is threatening 10 to 12 million jobs worldwide in tourism sector, they said.

Tourism should be opened as millions of people depend on it but there should be no compromise on human lives. Mian Zahid Hussain said that taxes are necessary to run the government but good environment is equally necessary to run the economy and businesses.

The government must help the business community reduce cost of doing business, energy tariff should be reduced and NIC condition should be abolished, he added. He said that budget has given a message to “do more” without expecting anything and that nothing has been done to enhance buying power of the masses which will hit the demand which is already at the lowest ebb.