LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Wednesday released its proposals for Federal Budget 2021-22 and hoped that these would be made part of the policies for the upcoming financial year. The proposals have been forwarded to the Finance Minister Hammad Azher, Minister for Industries, PM Advisor to Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, Chairman FBR and other concerned departments.
The LCCI Budget Proposals, which have been compiled under the guidance of LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah and consultation with Senior Vice President Nasir Hameed Khan and Vice President Tahir Manzoor Chaudhry, have said that Pakistan’s Economy is going through a challenging phase due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic as our growth rate slumped to negative 0.4% in 2019-20 compared to 1.91% in 2018-19.
The LCCI suggested that the incentives which are currently provided to the five zero rated sectors should also be provided to other important export sectors of the economy e.g. Engineering, Pharmaceuticals, Rice and Halal Meat etc.
Engineering sector holds great importance in the world economy as its share in global trade is around 52%. In Pakistan, however, no tax incentives are given to the engineering sector. Pharmaceutical sector also holds great importance in the world economy as its global trade is in excess of 600 Billion dollars (3% of global trade).
Majority of the tax incentives in Pakistan are given to the Textile sector whose share in world trade is just around 4%.
