LAHORE: The government should have devised rational economic policies at the very beginning of its tenure. Economic policies of the incumbent government have failed miserably and the prime minister has announced the amnesty scheme as the last resort to get through the upcoming elections.
These views were expressed by Lahore Tax Bar Association (LTBA) President Monim Sultan while reacting on the amnesty scheme in an interaction with Customs Today here.
Monim Sultan said that the amnesty scheme at this crucial juncture, when the incumbent government is going to finish its five years in the rule, testifies that the government has failed to strengthen the economy during its tenure and now the stopover and short-term measures are being taken with a view to consolidate its position in the upcoming elections.
He said had the economic policies been made in the larger national interests at the beginning there would be no chaos like situation in the country and the economy would have been made solid during the five years.
He added that there is no logic in announcing the scheme at this very moment when there is hardly one month left to announce the federal budget.
“The amendments in the rate of tax should have been undertaken by the finance bill, not by the ordinance and we see no successful execution of the amnesty scheme like the other five announced earlier. There is a dire need to take long term elaborative and systematic strategies to make the economy strong; the amnesty scheme is tantamount to oblige a few chosen,” he said.
He added that every government should take steps in the larger national interests, instead of obliging a few for vested interests. The LTBA president was of the view that nations grow when tax is paid and the tax is used for the benefits of the societies and not for the elite class’s extravagance which is a tradition in Pakistan.
