Voicing concern over imposition of 25 per cent additional taxes on poultry industry in the federal budget for the fiscal year 2015-2016, Pakistan Business and Intellectual Forum's (PBIF) president Mian Zahid Hussain has demanded of the government to withdraw the additional taxes, otherwise survival of the industry will be at stake. The revised taxes, he opined, would jeopardise the future of the Rs 700 billion poultry industry, deprive masses of a cheap source of animal protein, besides creating unemployment and food insecurity problems.
Talking to a delegation of poultry farmers, he said that beef is costly, mutton is out of reach of majority and the consumption of fish in Pakistan is only two kg per capita, the lowest in the world. Emphasising the need for protecting the poultry industry, the PBIF chief said that it was heartening to note that the industry despite all odds has been registering a growth ranging between 10pc and 12pc annually.
Apprehending that the additional taxes would be detrimental to the poultry industry, he pointed out that the United States has been providing a subsidy of $360 billion on food products to keep its people healthy whereas Saudi Arabia provided a 50pc subsidy on poultry products. The PBIF chief hoped that the government would provide relief to the poultry industry by withdrawing the additional taxes.
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