Budget, Finance Bill: Trade bodies discuss ‘glaring anomalies’

KARACHI: Atif Ikram Sheikh, President Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and Dr Gohar Ejaz, former federal commerce minister, who are jointly chairing FBR’s Anomaly Committee 2024 from the business side, called a high-profile meeting of all chambers, trade bodies and associations at FPCCI, and discussed the glaring anomalies in the Finance Bill and federal budget 2024–25 in detail on a sector-to-sector basis.

It is pertinent to note that Atif Ikram Sheikh, President FPCCI, will be presenting the dossier of anomalies from the entire business, industry and trade community of Pakistan to the federal minister for finance and revenue to be reviewed by federal government’s economic team and the prime minister to remove or resolve anomalies from the federal budget 2024–25.

Sheikh explained that, being the apex body, FPCCI will provide the government with the collective, aggregated, comprehensive and descriptive list of anomalies that are creating confusion, discontent and apprehensions. We deserve a friendly budget for the businesses, industry, exporters and the economy as a whole, he added.

He maintained that one of the primary measures in the budget that need to be reviewed immediately is withdrawal of fixed tax regime. Exporters across all industries have unanimously demanded that fixed tax regime should be restored; under which 1 percent tax on export proceeds is levied. Exporters are the backbone of country’s economy, and this particular anomaly needs to be addressed as the top most priority to protect them, he added.

However, Dr Gohar Ejaz stressed that it is imperative to amend the finance bill to take out its regressive and contractionary measures to keep the economy afloat, curtail inflation, keep current account deficit in control, enable exporters to grow, create jobs and generate revenues.

Ejaz added that Pakistani trade and industry is already at a disadvantage as compared to the region due to unbearable cost of doing business; which has been driven up due to electricity and gas tariffs; inflationary pressures in the economy and inconsistencies in economic policymaking.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024