FPCCI’s proposals under consideration: official

KARACHI: The proposals of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) to boost the economy are under consideration, a government official said on Friday.

During a meeting with FPCCI’s Regional chairman Chaudhry Muhammad Saleem Bhullar and PTI’s senior leader Raja Muhammad Saleem, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib said that these proposals will be raised in the forum of the National Assembly.

The country’s economy is growing and exports have reached $31 billion. Despite the coronavirus, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has collected Rs4.732 trillion; as the government implemented smart lockdowns when needed and enforced SOPs effectively to control the pandemic.

Habib also said that the development work is underway to build several dams and vast water reservoirs in the country. These measures will increase the water storage capacity and also offer an inexpensive source of power supply.

Bhullar said that there are more than one-and-a-half million commercial electricity connections in the country and they should be included in the tax net.

The existing tax system is not sustainable for future generations; with only one per cent of the population carrying the burden of the entire state.

He also said of the 220 million people of the country, less than two million people file tax returns and more than 85 per cent tax is paid by 300 companies of the country; whereas, more than 75 per cent tax is being collected from the manufacturing sector alone.

This results in the manufacturing sector and industrial sectors being severely affected.

Bhullar also said that due to many loopholes in the policies, harassment and corruption, the business community is reluctant to enter the tax net.

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