Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has urged the federal government to announce a business and public-friendly budget besides curbing the menace of the ongoing energy crisis in the country.
Talking to the newsmen here Monday, SCCI President Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry urged the government to reduce the mark-up ratio of the banks and give maximum relief to the perturbed and energy crisis-hit industrial sector of the country and traders, industrialists and exporters.
He appealed to the government to reduce the sales tax ratio from 17 percent and cancel the imposition of RGST in the coming federal budget. The SCCI chief asked the government to announce a special package of incentives to boost the export industries which, he said, had always been ignored in the past budgets.
He revealed that the production of 7,000 industrial units in Sialkot had badly been hampered due to unending unscheduled 20-hour-long power outages. He demanded the authorities concerned to work on a war footing to put an end to the massive power outages. He termed this situation alarming, urging the federal government to exempt export-oriented Sialkot city from load shedding of electricity.
Meanwhile, addressing a meeting of traders, Markazi Anjuman Tajiran President Mehar Ghulam Mujtaba urged the government to take the business community into confidence before announcing 2011-2012 budget. He said the budget should be public-friendly while the government should announce some effective and positive measures to control the skyrocketing price hike, besides halting any further increase in POL prices.
THREE HELD FOR RANSACKING MINISTER’S OFFICE: The Civil Lines police arrested Mian Tariq, Anwar and Idrees on the charges of attacking and ransacking the camp office of Federal Information Minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan in Christian Town in Sialkot on May 20.
SP (Investigation) Nasir Muneef Qureshi told newsmen that the police had sent the accused behind bars and further investigations were underway.
77PC WHEAT PROCUREMENT TARGET ACHIEVED: The food department has achieved 77.08 percent of its total target of wheat procurement during this season in Gujranwala division. Gujranwala division Deputy Director Food Naveed Ashraf disclosed this while talking to newsmen here Monday. He added the 100 percent target fixed by the government would be achieved till June 3 as the wheat procurement was in full swing at all the 44 official wheat procurement centres in the division.