Businessmen termed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government’s first budget old wine in a new bottle, stating that it neither benefited the public nor the business community.
“The PML-N had made towering claims to improve the condition of the people after coming to power. Instead, it increased the General Sales Tax from six per cent to seven per cent, which will further increase prices. This affects everything from a match box to clothes,” said former president of Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Punjab’s Vice-President Raja Tariq Kiani.
He said the PML-N government had failed to provide relief to the salaried class and the poor.
“The government did not increase the salaries of government officials, but increased the budget of different ministries at the centre,” he said.
“An amount of Rs3 billion have been allocated for laptops to get cheap popularity. If the government wanted to benefit the youth, it would have opened technical colleges from that money,” he said.
Kiani said the government had failed to present the programme for energy generation.
He added that the government had failed to devise a policy which attracted investment from overseas Pakistanis.
“Most overseas Pakistanis keep their fortunes in banks. The government should devise a policy to attract this money by providing incentives to them,” he said.
Furthermore, Kiani said the decrease in the Prime Minister House expenditure by 45 percent was mere eyewash, as expenditures of other ministries had not been decreased.
Meanwhile, the RCCI also rejected the one percent increase in sales tax and said the budget had no incentives for the business community. “Overcoming circular debt in two months is a good promise, but how will the new government end it in such a short time span when the previous government failed to do so in five years,” said acting president of RCCI Pervaiz Ahmed Warriach.
He said the government had suggested some steps to enhance tax base but at the same time, increasing the tax ratio was beyond comprehension.
“The business community remains uncertain. Will the government be able to fulfill its promises or not,” he said.
Warriach said there was nothing for the salaried class in the budget, but he appreciated certain projects such as loans for the unemployed youth at low interest rates.
Anjuman Tajran Rawalpindi’s president Sheikh Siddique said the government had allocated Rs225 billion for energy generation which was very low, and had to be increased to Rs500 billion since businesses could not run in an energy crisis.
“The allocation of money for laptops and the money saved from the Prime Minister House expenditure should be spent on improving electricity generation in the country,” he said.
