PESHAWAR: Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) President Zahid Hussain on Wednesday said the economy regulatory laws continue preferring trade to industry which is against the national interests.
Adding to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, he said it will further increase the pressure on local industry which will grade it to a new row of lows. “I see no future of the just taxation regime in spite of encouraging local industry, he said.
Investable funds are moving towards unproductive sectors like real estate and speculation which results in increasing imports and decreasing exports, he said in a statement that will lead to a no better tomorrow.
Hussain said the economic policies are discouraging for industrial expansion while pushing industrialists to opt for trading which is a very dangerous development that must be stopped right now.
“Export sector continues to shrink in the international market because of reduced competitiveness while the industries, catering to the local needs, are enjoying a high level of protectionism for which masses are paying the price,” he added. He said the tax structure must be amended so that majority of the business community stop considering it a problem and start paying taxes.
“Some experts say that the way government has slapped regulatory duty and other taxes to curtail imports has added to the complexity of the tax structure and incentivised smuggling that must be considered by the policymakers,” he noted.
The Business Leaders said that holding back refunds and cost of the energy has taken a toll on the export sector which was already reeling under multiple problems. The current tax structure is promoting the interests of nobility, and lower class people bear the burden of extra taxes.
