Vandalism, internet shutdown causes Rs3.5b loss

ISLAMABAD:

The vandalism and arson during protests by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers across the country and the government's shutdown of the internet for three days have taken a toll on the national exchequer as it suffered a loss of more than Rs3.5 billion.

As business activities have been affected, the Federal Board of Revenue also lost about Rs2 billion in terms of revenue, but the Pakistan Software Export Association (PSEA) said that a day's business of the information technology sector is $12 million. Therefore in three days, the PSEA said, the IT sector suffered a loss of Rs10 billion.

According to details, a loss of Rs1.14 billion has been incurred due to the vandalism and burning of government property during the protest of PTI workers, while the initial estimate of the loss to the telecom sector is around Rs2 billion.

About Rs600 million tax revenue was lost due to the shutdown of telephone, internet, and social media. Due to the protests, thousands of daily wage labourers lost their jobs across the country, while the business of transporters was also affected due to the shutdown of transport.