Miftah calls economic stability top govt priority
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail on Wednesday expressed the government’s resolve to promote business activities and facilitate business community in achieving sustainable economic growth.
He was talking to a delegation of businessmen, led by Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Muhammad Shakeel Munir and Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) President
Nadeem Rauf.
Miftah praised contribution of the business community to the growth of economic activity in
the country.
He stressed that macroeconomic stability was the top priority of the government and it was focusing on ensuring financial discipline through effective and business-friendly policies to achieve high
economic growth.
The minister assured the delegation that businessmen’s issues would be addressed on a priority basis through regular communications and consultations with them.
He said the matter of one-off exemption for the Bill of Lading items, whose import had been banned, would be taken up in the
federal cabinet.
He told the delegation that the issue of deemed rental income would be resolved in consultation with the stakeholders to address
their concerns.
In the meeting, issues related to importers and exporters, revision of the list of banned import items, poultry feed and furniture were also discussed.
Earlier, the delegation apprised the minister of the multiple challenges related to the imposition of taxes on various sectors in the federal budget for fiscal year 2022-23.
They requested the minister to resolve the issues confronting the business community and sought the government’s support for bringing efficiency to different sectors. RCCI President Nadeem Rauf told the minister that the construction sector had been affected by the imposition of tax on the deemed rental income in
the budget.
He recommended that industrial zones should be set up in Rawalpindi while Special Economic Zones should be established in the city under the CPEC programme. “An expo centre is also the need of the hour,” he said.
He called for revising the list of imported items that had been banned as the restriction would likely lead to an increase in smuggling of those goods. (with additional input from our correspondent)
Published in The Express Tribune, July 14th, 2022.
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