Budget has failed to address power crisis: PIAF

Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front (PIAF) has said that budget would hardly be doing any favour to the country's ailing economy, as government did not give any substantive plan to overcome ongoing electricity crisis. The PIAF Chairman Sohail Lashari stated this after having a meeting with the former office bearers of the association here on Saturday.
He said that by not allocating funds for Kalabagh dam, the government has given a clear message to the masses that they were least interested in ensuring cheaper electricity to the trade and industry. Lashari said that unemployment, closure of industrial units because of non-availability of electricity have become order of the day in the resource-rich country.
The PIAF chairman, however, said that the business community was expecting an announcement on new dams but no such announcement was made though the country was facing unprecedented energy crisis because of lack of dams for generation of cheap and sufficient electricity. He said that neither any new hydle project was announced nor any measures for exploitation of huge coal reserves the country were taken.
He said that the finance minister announced a budget having high revenue and expenditures but did not say a single word as to how these targets would be met. He said that subsidy on solar tube wells, however, would give some much needed strength to the agriculture sector besides promoting the alternate energy sources for electricity generation but increase in power generation through hydel resources is must for the survival of the country.
Lashari said that no measures were announced to broaden the tax net and it seemed that the existing taxpayers would be targeted to meet the revenue target. They demanded of the government to immediately announce the construction of Kalabagh dam and allocate sufficient funds to make the budget nation friendly in true sense of word.
He said that no policy was announced for the loss-making public sector enterprises that are eating up huge amount annually. He said that abolition of duty on 28 pharmaceutical industry items is a good step and would help to bring down the prices of medicine. He said that application of same General Sales Tax rate will also support the declining economy. He said that cut in FED on cement will also support the construction sector.