ISLAMABAD: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has said the PML-N government failed to honour its commitment about releasing stuck-up refunds to the business community leaving them in a quandary.
Refunds worth trillions of rupees are held by the government since years which are not being released despite repeated promises by the top government functionaries, said Ghazanfar Bilour, president of the FPCCI.
He said that slow processing of refunds has surfaced as a major issue confronting taxpayers of the country which is not acceptable, he said.
FBR prefers to meet their tax collection targets to please the IMF instead of processing refunds of taxpayers that resulted in creating severe liquidity crunch for the businessmen compromising their ability to do business, he added.
He said that exporters are running from pillar to post for ensuring the release of funds against the Refund Payment Orders already issued them but it seems that government is not concerned about the plight of the business community.
Ghazanfar said that the liquidity crunch is playing havoc with the viability of the industrial sector with the textile industry taking a major blow.
The textile exports have grown in double-digit after the announcement of this PM package but the commitments made under that package remained unmet discouraging the business community and putting the credibility of the government at stake.
The negative attitude of the government has become a threat to the exports which are already insufficient to bridge the deficits, he warned.
The business leader demanded a mechanism to ensure smooth clearance of refunds on a permanent basis to save the export sector from additional and unnecessary costs.
