The All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajiran (APAT) on Sunday expressed satisfaction over the Federal Budget 2016-17, saying the overall budget is satisfactory and acceptable, with some exceptions and concerns.
While talking to reporters at Lahore Press Club, APAT General Secretary Naeem Mir along with other trade leaders including Chaudhry Mehboob Sirki, Agha Adnan, Raja Hassan Akhtar, Mian Khalil, Sohail Butt and Sheikh Irfan Iqbal said, the economy was on the right track and all economic indicators were moving in the positive direction and credit goes to the present government for this achievement.
He criticised the government for continued reliance on With Holding Tax (WHT) and demanding of the authorities to withdraw 2 percent increase on WHT on commercial electricity meters, explaining that traders are already paying 7.5 percent Sales Tax and 10 percent WHT on power bills. Moreover, turnover tax should be reduced to 0.2 percent from 0.5 percent.
He appreciated government plans to tighten the noose against non-filers but demanded to resume the Voluntary Tax Compliance Scheme for non-filers to broaden the tax net.
Overall the budget proposals are growth oriented but it is not sufficient to kick-start the economy on a high pedestal, as the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has not shared details of foreign investments and neither the government shared how it would fill the gap in trade deficit, Naeem Mir said.
"We consider the budget targets especially the Gross Domestic Product growth of 5.7 percent set for next year, will be highly challenging and will depend on robust growth in the agriculture and export sectors which have been given significant incentives, which is a welcome step. Similarly incentives in respect of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)projects and businesses linked to Gwadar Free Zone is also a good step and appreciable."
Naeem Mir further said, there are no details on how to improve governance, reduce burden on the existing tax payers, plans on reform in the taxation system, broadening of tax base and improving Pakistan's rating in Ease of Doing Business.
Moreover, development expenditure should have been further enhanced by lowering current expenditure, which would have created more jobs.
APAT General Secretary also hailed the government for high revenue collection, which used to be around 2.5 to 3.0 percent and which has now increased to 19.7 percent. There has been record revenue collection in the current fiscal year and debt to GDP ratio is continuously declining compared to the previous years with exchange rate stable and fiscal deficit contained.
The country has achieved fiscal consolidation without compromising on expenditure on development. The economic reforms undertaken by the government have helped achieve macroeconomic stability which is now widely acknowledged. In the past two years progress crossed over 4 percent and reached 4.7 percent - the highest in 8 years, which would have been much better if the cotton crop hadn't suffered a fall in growth of 28 percent, he added.
Naeem Mir observed that the international agencies have declared that Pakistan's economy is back on track and has made significant progress. "The international agency, Bloomberg, in its report had appreciated the achievements of the government despite the sit-in protests in the country. According to Bloomberg, the government had managed to turn around the economy after political disturbance by some opposition parties. Likewise, Moody's has also declared Pakistan's economy rating from stable to positive category due to its sustainable foreign currency reserves and stability of its Bonds in the international market. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) had also allowed Pakistan to deal with it for any loan due to an improvement in macroeconomic indicators."