LAHORE: The All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajiran on Sunday expressed satisfaction on the federal budget, saying the overall budget is satisfactory and acceptable with some exceptions and concerns.
Addressing a press conference at Lahore Press Club, APAT general secretary Naeem Mir, along with other trade leaders including Ch Mehboob Sirki, Agha Adnan, Raja Hassan Akhtar, Mian Khalil, Sohail Butt and Sheikh Irfan Iqbal, said that economy was on the right track and all economic indicators were moving in the positive direction and credit goes to the present government for this achievement.
He criticized the government for continued reliance on WHT, asking the authorities to withdraw 2 percent raise in WHT on commercial electricity meters, as traders are already paying 7.5 percent sales tax and 10 percent WHT on power bills. Moreover, turnover tax should be reduced to 0.2 percent from 0.5 percent.
He appreciated the government’s plan of tightening noose against non-filers but demanded to resume the Voluntary Tax Compliance Scheme for non-filers to enhance tax net.
He said that overall the budget proposals are growth oriented but it is not sufficient to start the economy at a high pedestal, as the finance minister has not shared the detail of foreign investment. Neither the govt pointed out how it would fill gap of trade deficit, he added.
“We consider that the budget targets especially the GDP growth of 5.7 percent for next year will be highly challenging and will depend on the robust growth in the agriculture and export sectors which have been given significant incentives, which is welcome step. Similarly incentives in respect of CPEC projects and businesses linked to Gwadar Free Zone is also a good step and appreciable.”
Naeem Mir said that there are no details to improve governance, reduce the burden of the existing tax payers, plans to reform the taxation system, broaden the tax base and improve Pakistan’s rating in the Ease of Doing Business. Moreover, Development expenditure should have been further enhanced by lowering current expenditure which would have created employment.
APAT general secretary hailed the govt for high revenue collection, growth of which used to be around 2.5 to 3.0 percent, which has now increased to 19.7 percent. There has been record revenue collection in the current fiscal year. Debt to GDP ratio is continuously declining compared to the previous years. Exchange rate is stable and fiscal deficit has been contained. The country has achieved fiscal consolidation without compromising on expenditures on development. The economic reforms undertaken by the government have helped achieve macroeconomic stability which is now widely acknowledged.
In the past two years progress went over 4 percent and reached 4.7 percent – the highest in 8 years, which would have been better if the cotton crop hadn’t suffered a fall in growth of 28 percent, he added.
Naeem Mir observed that the international agencies have declared that Pakistan’s economy is back on track and has made a significant progress.
“The international agency, Bloomberg, in its report had appreciated the achievements of the government despite the sit-ins and protest in the country. According to the Bloomberg, the government had managed to turn around the economy after political disturbance by some opposition parties.
Likewise, Moody’s has also declared Pakistan’s economy rating from stable to positive category due to its sustainable foreign currency reserves and stability of its Bonds in the international market.
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) had also allowed Pakistan to deal with it for any loan due to an improvement in macroeconomic indicators.”
