KARACHI: A two-day strike by the business community against the condition of national identity card (CNIC) and government’s tax policies started on Tuesday.
Due to the deadlock between the All Pakistan Traders Association (APTA) and Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR), traders across the country are observing a shutter-down strike today and tomorrow.
On Sunday, APTA President Ajmal Baloch had announced that the strict conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have badly affected the trading activities, against which the business community will protest strongly.
Business centres and markets in Vehari, Gujranwala, Hafizabad and Muzaffargarh remained shut due to the traders’ strike.
President Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce Mian Omer Saleem has announced support for the protesting traders.
On the other hand, Finance Adviser Abdul Hafeez Sheikh has invited the business community for negotiations.
Sources said traders have been assured their issues will be resolved in the meetings. Traders are likely to meet an IMF delegation during the meeting as well.
At a press conference held at the office of the Karachi Electronics Dealers Association on Monday, President Rizwan Irfan said the traders issues were not being resolved for the last six months due to poor economic policies of the government.
These include duties and taxes on traders of old mobile phones, sales tax registration for six months, prerequisite of the Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) for purchase of over Rs 50,000.
