'New textile package to be announced soon'

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abassi has assured that new textile package will be announced within the next couple of days. Talking to Shabbir Hussain Chawla President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) and other business leaders, after attending a meeting of anomalies committee, the prime minister said the government was already trying its optimum best to clear the pending refund claims and hopefully this issue would be resolved during the current month.
About a huge difference in the gas tariff for Punjab and other provinces, the PM said that federal government is handicapped under 18th amendment to facilitate them. He asked the businessman to contact the chief minister Punjab as he could bridge difference in tariff with a special grant from the provincial resources. Commenting on the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess, he said that efforts are already being made to settle down this issue without any unnecessary delay.
Earlier, Shabbir Hussain Chawla presented a comprehensive report on budget anomalies and demanded that genuine discrepancies must be redressed and resolved in the final draft of federal finance bill. Shabbir Hussain Chawla specifically mentioned the widening gap between imports and exports and said that in order to increase exports maximum facilities should be doled out to the exporters. He also identified disparities between industrialists-cum-exporters and commercial importers and said that the same facilities should be offered to the commercial importers as they are also contributing their role in enhancing value-added textile exports. He said that withholding tax on withdrawal from banks by filers should be further reduced. Similarly, further tax should also be trimmed in addition to eliminating Regulatory Duty on import of chemicals for textile sector.
The meeting was held in PM's House which was also attended by Federal Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, Haroon Rasheed, Federal Minister for Commerce and Textile Pervaiz Malik, Chairman FBR Tariq Mehmood Pasha and State Minister for Finance and Revenue Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan in addition to the office-bearers of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI), Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI), Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) and other leading Trade Associations of the country.