ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has accepted the business leaders’ proposal of zero-rated sales tax regime for export sector and directed the authorities concerned for introducing the regime from July 1, 2016.
The prime minister accepted the proposal during a meeting with a group of leading businessmen at PM’s House. The meeting was also attended by CM Shahbaz Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal and other senior officials.
The PM said that private sector has a key role in country’s economic growth and asked the business community to take advantage of business-friendly economic policies.
The participants briefed the Prime Minister about existing business environment in Pakistan and shared their proposals for achieving rapid growth in Pakistan’s economy. They particularly referred to reforms in Federal Board of Revenue in the backdrop of coercive and exploitative measures against businessmen in the past and appreciated government’s resolve for creating a conducive environment for taxpayers.
The prime minister constituted a committee to evaluate the proposals given by the participants for coming up with firm recommendations within next 10 days to reach at final decision. He lauded the input of the businessmen and said that the private sector has a key role in Pakistan’s economic growth and he believes in broadening the tax base without harassing business community.
The representatives of the business community appreciated the leadership of the prime minister for achieving macro-economic stability in the country mainly due to the government’s policies. They said that their confidence to invest in different economic fields has been reinforced through business-friendly policies.
Nawaz Sharif informed them that the government placed massive cuts on its non-development expenditures to create space for development spending, adding that the energy sector was put on priority to generate 10,000 MWs of affordable electricity till 2018 that would lead to end of load-shedding and reduction in cost of electricity.
