Levying of Sales Tax on bread opposed

Levy of sales tax on bread would not only jack up prices of bread but 40 percent bread manufacturing units would also be closed down, leaving thousands of industrial workers jobless. Chairman Bread Manufacturers Association & Lahore Township Industries Association, Haroon Shafiq Chaudhry in a statement on Friday said that bread would be out of the reach of common man after imposition of Sales Tax on the daily-use item.
He said the levy will lead to collapse of bread manufacturing industry. He noted that prolonged gas and electricity load-shedding have already crippled industrial activities. He added that various bread-manufacturing units have already closed down their operations while the proposed tax would give big blow to the remaining ones. Shafiq said that at a time when industrial production is registering negative growth and business community is facing severe difficulties in dealing with banks, such steps would add fuel to the fire.