The Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) neither discussed the matter of waiving 5 percent sales tax on oil cake nor asked the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to purchase 20 million bales of all grades of cotton, nor impose the ban on the import of cotton lint or cotton-yarn as assured by Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue in the first week of December.
The ginning community was pessimistic due to non-co-operation of the present government in resolving their problems. The government has left the ginners at a cross road now they are not in a position to force the government to accept their demands because more than 13.2 million bales have so far been ginned.
The bureaucracy has suggested that the government should compensate the growers by granting them Rs 2000 to 4000 per acre as financial assistance so that they could easily cultivate their wheat crop They have opposed the procurement of the cotton from the ginners at Rs 6,864 per maund or all grades of cotton because the procured stock would not be disposed of in next two months.
Federal Minister for Textile Industry Abbas Khan Afridi has also suggested that there was no need of procurement of cotton through TCP because textile industry has assured to lift maximum cotton from the ginneries after the restoration of eight hours gas and uninterrupted power supply round-the-clock to textile industry. On the proposal of two ministries, the commerce ministry has asked the TCP to stop the procurement of cotton. It may be recalled that Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had assured the delegation of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) that issue of the waiving 5 percent GST of oil cake would be discussed in the next meeting of the Economic Co-ordination Committee and the government would impose ban on the import of cotton yarn and cotton lint from India or any other country.
The finance minister further assured that the government would review its policy of cotton procurement and it would purchase two million bales on market rates from the ginners to end the cotton crisis in the country. It was stated by PCGA Chairman Haji Hafeez Anwar,Ex-Chairman Mukhtar Ahmed Khan Baloch and Ex-Vice Chairman Sheikh Aasim Saeed while addressing a hurriedly called press conference here this afternoon.
They said that PCGA delegation was comprised on its chairman Haji Hafeez Anwar,Masued Majid ,Mukhtar Ahmed Khan Baloch, Pervez Malik MNA,Sheikh Fayyaz Ahmed MNA and Ex-Vice Chairman Sheikh Aasim Saeed. It met Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in the presence of Tariq Bajwa, Chairman of FBR, M Ashraf Khan Senior Member, Khurram Dastgir, Federal Commerce Minister Chairman of PCGA said that they listened to them patiently and said that the government was aware of ginners as well as growers problems and assured that their demands and proposals would be discussed in the next meeting of ECC.
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