LAHORE: Prices of poultry products would surge by around 30 to 40 percent after imposition of reformed General Sales Tax (GST), stakeholders of the industry told Pakistan Today on Monday.
Though the government has exempted chicken and egg from the reformed GST, it did not grant relaxations on poultry feed, which would eventually augment the input cost of the poultry farmers, they added.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has granted a relaxation to the industry and announced a charge of 15 percent tax instead of 17 percent from the sector, said Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) Export Committee Convenor Abdul Basit.
He blamed the government of deceiving the people and lamented that a tax would be imposed on the feed rather than the poultry items. “Currently, a poultry feed 50-kg bag is available for Rs 1630 while after imposition of a 15 percent tax it would be sold at Rs 1880,” he said, adding that other inputs like electricity, diesel and labour expenditures would rise and would add to the industry problems.
“Currently, live chicken costs around Rs 110-120 per kg to the farmer, whereas, its retail price is Rs 90-95 per kg thus the farmer is suffering a huge loss.
An increase in input prices would make chicken meat even more expensive consequently raising losses incurred by farmers’,” he grieved. Basit said that if the situation prevailed for a longer period, the poultry farms would eventually shut down and chicken prices would climb.
Poultry farmer Farooq Hasan said that the input cost of chicken was already high and more taxes meant closure for the industry. “It costs around Rs 115 per kg to the growers whereas it is sold at Rs 90-95 per kg,” a poultry farmer said.
He apprised Pakistan Today of the chicken price which was hovering around Rs 50-60. “Our feed is around three kg, which costs approximately Rs 98 and aggregating other charges mean that a two kilogram chicken costs Rs 180-190,” he added.
He stated that an increase in cost of poultry feed would make selling chicken meat impossible at a rate of Rs 160-170 per kg. “Its price would jump to Rs 190-200 per kg,” he added.
