Budget not as per expectations of poor, business community

ISLAMABAD: Vice President Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Fazal Elahi on Saturday said the Budget 2011-12 is not as per the expectations of the business community, but it offers some hope.

He welcomed the announcement of adding 2.3 million people to the tax net, saying that if materialised, it will resolve many problems. It is not a difficult task as we have four million commercial electricity connections and millions of commercial gas connections in the country.

Fazal Elahi said that issue of energy outages has not been given due attention, which will result in missed collection and export targets and add to unemployment.

Talking to Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President, Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) he said that measures for sustainable growth were avoided which disappoints many.

The Vice President of the apex chamber said that no one can deny the presence of the black money in the country which should be channelled towards industry.

He said that debt servicing eats up 1972 billion rupees which is a major threat in a situation where tax-to-GDP ratio is falling and less than 1 per cent pay taxes.

Fazl Elahi expressed disappointment over absence of relaxation on machinery imports and lack of incentives to the industry that is reeling under multiple pressures.

He said that 25 per cent industry has been closed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province and situation is not different in other parts of the country.

Dr. Murtaza Mughal said that exempted sectors like agriculture, property and services have not been touched in the budget which is unfortunate.

Putting education and other critical services on the back burner will not help country fight war against terror, he said.

He said that poverty is increasing which is pushing millions to send their children to seminaries where they get free education, food and boarding.

Dr. Murtaza Mughal said that budget hardly offer any relief for the poor or business community and has nothing to attract investment which was critical to arrest the rising trend of lawlessness and terrorism.

Government has again failed to raise taxes on the elite to cut an unsustainable deficit which has left us reliant on debt, he said adding that serious attempts should have been made to sort out economic issues.

Budgets made for political survival is one of the biggest problems Pakistan is facing.

Copyright PPI (Pakistan Press International), 2011