Pre-budget seminars fill the week

The week saw a number of pre-budget seminars and discussions ahead of the Federal Budget.

During one such seminar advisor to the PM on finance Shaukat Tareen made vague promises but the businessmen have no clue as to how the economy would be revived.

In fact, the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry and many other trade organisations are worried because they have not been consulted in the budget making process

They say that besides general impediments faced by the industries like high mark-up and high inflation each industrial sector has specific problems that have to be addressed separately from the general economic policy.

They wonder as to how the federal government would be able to resolve these specific issues without interacting with the main stakeholders of these sectors.

“Country’s economy is at a stage where we cannot bear the further continuation of the current economic policies or introduction of a new policy without taking the stakeholders on board,” said Syed Nabeel Hashmi, former chairman of Pakistan Association of Auto Parts and Accessories Manufacturers.

He said the problems in the auto sector for instance relate more to the transparent implementation of already agreed auto-deletion policy and adjusting the tariffs on components that could be manufactured in Pakistan but are imported in the semi knocked down kit.

He said the issue of mark-up on car financing particularly on cars below 1000 cc is another matter that has not been discussed with the auto-vendors who are the main investors and employers in the auto-industry.

Vice Chairman Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association Adil Butt said that the change in global scenario has severely impacted the clothing exporters of Pakistan. He said this sub-sector of textile needs immediate government help as clothing accounts for over 70 per cent of the total global textile trade.

He said the government of Pakistan should have launched a big diplomatic offensive to get market access for Pakistan clothing products instead he regretted that the economic managers of the country are silent even when the United States is about to approve legislation that would provide zero rated access to textiles from Bangladesh, Cambodia and Sri Lanka.

Former Chairman All Pakistan Contractors Association, Akber Shiekh, said that the construction boom witnessed in the past year is about to bust. He said the construction industry growth in the current fiscal declined by 11 per cent. He said this should have been an eye opener for the planners who should have consulted the stakeholders of this industry.

However, he added there has been no high level contact with the federal government to find out ways to stop this decline.

He said the construction sector is the largest provider of employment to unskilled labour force of the country. There are more unskilled unemployed workers in Pakistan than the skilled workers.

More over he added that depression in construction activities spell disaster for over four dozen industries associated with construction activities. He said decline in cement, steel, fan, cables, bricks, paints and many other industries are the direct result of decline in construction activities.

The industrialists of the city have however heaved a sigh of relief at the announcement of Shaukat Tareen that there would be no new taxes on the manufacturing sector and his assurance that there would be no increase in general sales tax.

President Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mian Muzaffar Ali, however said that there is a need to reduce the rate of GST and bring all tax evaders into the tax net so that the tax burden on industries could be lowered.

Courtesy: The News

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