LAHORE:The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Friday termed the federal budget as IT focused, business, SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises), agriculture friendly.
Addressing a Press Conference after Federal Budget speech, the LCCI President Kashif Anwar said that various proposals of the LCCI have been accepted in the Federal Budget.
LCCI Senior Vice President Zafar Mahmood Chaudhry and Vice President Adnan Khalid Butt also spoke on the occasion.
The LCCI President said that Lahore Chamber had proposed to increase the limit of bringing foreign currency into the country. He said that the government has accepted the proposal and increased the limit to USD 100,000 which was Rs 5 million before. It would help overcome the issue of low foreign exchange reserves. He said that the government has removed the condition of area under TIER-1 which was demand of the Lahore Chamber. He said that abolishment of duty on machinery for solar panels was a good step.
He said that the decision not to impose any new tax on the industrial sector was a welcome step. It was also the demand of LCCI that no new tax should be imposed on the industry in the ongoing economic scenario. He also welcomed total development budget of Rs 1,150 billion, saying that it would play an important role in the development of the country. He said that special measures should be taken to achieve the targets of USD 30 billion exports and USD 33 billion remittance for the next financial year. He also welcomed the establishment of Export Council.
He said that SMEs status to the information technology sector was a step in right direction as this sector had the potential to earn huge foreign exchange for the country. He said that sufficient funds for science and information technology would help rapid growth of these sectors.
The camber president said that funds worth Rs 107 billion would be helpful in improving the power generation and transmission and distribution system, adding that the funds for science, technology, energy sector, women empowerment and facilities for construction sector were welcome steps.