Senate Committee on Finance Chairman Senator Ali Ahmed said that though the European Union (EU) has given approval for an economic package to Pakistan the country is not likely to get this package due to strong opposition from India.
He said this while addressing a luncheon meeting at the North Karachi Industrial Development Company (NKIDC) at North Karachi Association of Trade and Industry on Tuesday.
Ahmed said that EU has said that Pakistan may not be granted the concession package as India has strongly raised this issue at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and has refused to retract from this stance, so WTO would not be able to give a green signal to the package.
He also made it clear that refunds to exporters may not be cleared before the federal budget. He pointed out that in case of delay in refunds the government is liable to pay six per cent interest to exporters, adding “but the government has never paid this”.
Senator Abdul Haseeb Khan on this occasion assured the industrialists that they would get the stuck up funds of Rs250 million soon.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 25th, 2011.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ