PTI Secretary General Asad Umar on Friday criticized the coalition government for imposing a “super tax” on large-scale industries, saying the measure would “shatter the economy”, increase unemployment and inflation, increase imports and hurt Pakistan. will put you in financial trouble. ,
“This is a big blow to the growing industries,” he said at a press conference in Islamabad.
In an address to the nation today, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced 10 per cent duty on sectors including sugar, oil and gas, cement, steel, airlines, fertilisers, LNG terminals, textiles, banking, automobiles, cigarettes, beverages and chemicals.
High-net-worth individuals would also be subject to a “poverty alleviation tax.” Those whose annual income exceeds Rs 15 crore will be taxed at 1 per cent; 200 million, for 2pc; Rs 250 million, 3pc; And Rs 30 crore will be taxed at 4 per cent of their income.
new measures triggered a Dip On the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), which crashed after the benchmark KSE-100 index lost over 2,000 points or 4.8pc in the morning session.
In his speech, PM Shahbaz had said that the decision was taken to protect and support the poor section from backbreaking inflation.
PTI, which was the single largest party in the National Assembly before resigning en masse from the lower house in April, disagreed with the premier’s assessment, claiming that the measures would burden the public in the form of rather high prices.
In his press today, Omar said: “It [super tax] Attacks on those sectors of the economy that have potential for growth […] which can increase production and livelihood […] And this is the reason why the market fell by 2,000 points during Shahbaz Sharif’s speech.
The former federal minister said, ‘With this you can clearly imagine how dangerous and deadly the budget is for the economy.
For the past 20 years, he continued, Pakistan had a policy of gradually reducing taxes on industries. “But they’ve ruined it all now.”
He further said that even now, despite rising prices of every commodity – diesel, petrol, gas and food items – the PM said that the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be signed only if the fund does not demand more. ,
He said, ‘It is a joke with the public.
“And then you ask people to be grateful? mian sahibYou had a choice between protecting the public and hiding your corruption and you have chosen the latter,” the former minister said.
He also claimed that the government does not care about the people as it knows that the people never elected it. “He only cares about the people who brought him. How will America be happy? Will it be happy to recognize Israel? By increasing ties with India or giving a base [to the US],
Meanwhile, responding to the Prime Minister’s remarks on PTI that led the country to default, Omar said that when the Imran-led government was “sacked”, foreigners in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Currency reserves stood at $16.4 billion.
“In the last three months, they’ve come down by exactly half. So, PM SirYou were the one who led the country to lapse, not us.”
‘Real budget announced today’
Omar further said that the PML-N government had presented the “actual budget today”.
He said that according to the Constitution, when the budget was presented, the Senate had 14 days to debate it and present its observations and reservations. “But he gave a provisional name to the budget presented on July 11.
Omar said, “Then 14 days have passed and today they made an announcement in which billions of rupees of taxes were imposed. This is a violation of the constitutional rights of the Senate.”
He later demanded that since the budget has been finalized today, the Senate should be given 14 days from today to discuss it. “If it doesn’t, the budget will become unconstitutional and can be challenged in the courts.”
‘Tax on those already taxed’
Meanwhile, former federal minister and PTI leader Hammad Azhar said the super tax was meant to “tax what is already there even more”, adding that it would “squeeze the formal sector of the economy”.
“The economy is in shambles and at this point in time such a measure will reverse the pace of industrialization generated by PTI,” he said.
Azhar highlighted that the industry was already facing crippling costs due to rising commodity and energy prices. “This super tax will be priced in their balance sheet and in many cases passed on to customers. This means an even higher price for the public.”
He also said that 0.63 per cent taxpayers pay 67 per cent of all income tax collected in the country.
“The actual total expected from the super tax is Rs 60 billion. Out of this Rs 46 billion will come from banks. The total tax collection target is Rs 7,400 billion which will be met by inflation alone. So as a gimmick (like an import ban). For, they levied heavy taxes already taxing the formal sector,” he said.
Former Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the PSX slowdown has shown the country how much faith in the Shahbaz-led government.
“The economic policies of the government are making Pakistan bankrupt. It is in Pakistan’s interest to get rid of this government,” he said.
Meanwhile, former Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin simply said that the market no longer believes in the PML-N government.