Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) on Saturday lauded the government's decision of slashing high speed diesel price by Rs 6.37 and petrol by Rs 2.41 per litre as it would provide some relief to masses and reduce the cost of doing business to some extent.
In a statement, President ICCI Sheikh Amir stressed that the government should have reduced high taxes and levies on POL products to give decent relief to the common man and to the business sector. Sheikh Amir Waheed said the government was currently charging 22 percent GST on HSD, 9.5 percent on petrol and 6 percent on kerosene.
He said the government was also charging levy of Rs 8 per litre on HSD, Rs 10 on petrol and Rs 6 on kerosene due to which the prices of these products were still very high in Pakistan. He emphasized that instead of making POL products revenue generating commodities, the government should cut taxes and levy on these products and bring drastic reforms in the taxation to improve revenue generation. It could be the wise approach to provide decent relief to the common man, create enabling environment for the growth of business activities and put the economy on the path of sustainable growth, he added.