SIALKOT: The traders’ bodies have threatened to go on nationwide strike, it the government will further increase the general sales tax (GST) by 3 percent in the upcoming budget for fiscal year 2015-16.
Addressing a press conference held at the auditorium of Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), the representatives of all the main trade bodies demanded the government to announce zero rated GST in the budget for facilitating the business community.
SCCI President Fazal Jillani warned that the Sialkot exporters would take to the streets and lock up their factories if the FBR increased the existing GST rate from 2 percent to 5 percent.
The SCCI president said that Sialkot trade bodies were on one page over the crucial issue, adding that the proposed 3 percent increase in general sales tax would badly affect the industries which had already been suffering prolonged energy crisis and great financial crunch due to inordinate delay in the clearance of sales tax and duty drawback claims.
Pakistan Gloves Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PGMEA) Chairman Muhammad Younas termed the proposed 3 percent increase “unjustified”, saying that the increase would kill the industries. He said that government should announce some trade and export related incentives for the exporters instead of pushing additional financial burden on them.
On the occasion, Sialkot Dry Port Trust (SDPT) Chairman Khawar Anwar Khawaja termed it a very cruel act of government if the FBR made any increase in the GST. He said the present circumstances now had become unbearable for the Sialkot exporters, adding that the Sialkot exporters would not be able to increase exports to US$ 6 billion from the existing US$ 1.8 billion annually during the next three years.
