HYDERABAD:The President Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) Adeel Siddiqui on Saturday said that the federal government had offered big relief to the industrial sector by levying no new taxes which were otherwise being anticipated in view of present trying times.
In his statement on the federal budget 2023-24 here on Saturday, he also agreed with the government’s view of preferences determined in the budget.
He said that these priorities were in the larger interest of people.
He termed the present budget as a balanced one.
The HCCI President said that economic conditions were not hidden from anyone and the business community had feared that corporate, trade and industrial sectors would face difficult conditions in the upcoming budget once again.
He hailed concessions and exemptions given in the budget for industry, exports, imports, agriculture, IT, SMEs, construction and solar energy.
He termed Prime Minister’s youth business loan as the need of the hour which would enable youths to become entrepreneurs.
He said that the government had taken responsibility for 20 percent risk cover in loans. He, however, expressed concern over the budget deficit of Rs7,500 billion due to markup on debt servicing and said that this deficit was the highest in the country’s history.
Adeel Siddiqui stated that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) now faces a tough target of Rs 9,200 billion in revenue collection.
He believed that the government would have to face problems in the days to come. He said if FBR officials were given more powers for tax recovery the industrial and trade activities would be affected.
He said it was time that the International Monetary Fund should listen to the government which had complied with its conditions.
Adeel Siddiqui said the Pakistan government had met its conditions to appease it but the international lender had been unfair with people of Pakistan.
He said that the IMF should help Pakistan in these testing times to enable the country to revive and stabilize the economy.