Khursheed stresses tax exemption for agri sector

ISLAMABAD: Federal Water Resources Minister Khursheed Shah has called for tax exemption for the agriculture sector by increasing tax on tobacco, betel nut (chaalia) and betel leaf so that the country could be self-sufficient in agricultural production and save valuable foreign exchange.

“In every tenure of the PPP government, we made the country self-sufficient in agriculture and turned the import of commodities into export, but the dictatorial-tainted PTI government destroyed this sector due to which we are far from self-sufficiency in this sector today,” he said while speaking at a meeting of the Taskforce of Agriculture and Food Security through vide link on Wednesday.

Federal Water Resources Minister Khursheed Shah said Pakistan was among the countries having lowest tax on cigarettes, which was not only reducing revenue but also putting people's health at stake. "Smoking increases the risk of cancer and heart disease," he said, adding that the country had to get out of this cycle.

Federal Water Resources Minister Khursheed Shah said human life, health and development depended on agriculture and the government should not be negligent in this matter. “In view of the pace on which our population is growing, we have to prepare our food basket for 300 million people.”