Sheikh 'hopeful' about persuading traders to end strike
Sheikh stated that the talks would resume after the next meeting of the ECC.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Abdul Hafeez Sheikh said on Wednesday that the talks with the traders’ bodies – who have been observing a two-day nationwide strike against government’s economic policies – ended on a positive note.
Sheikh, in his talk to the media, further mentioned that the talks would resume after the next meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet.
“Both sides have been trying to improve the matters of concern,” he said, while expressing hope to achieve breakthrough in talks.
He stated that the World Bank Group wanted stability in Pakistan’ economy, and the president of the WBG has appreciated economic reforms adopted by the country.
“The government wants the benefits of economic improvement to reach the general public and it will use all available resources for implementation,” he said.
Earlier today, the finance advisor said the statistics of the first quarter of the current financial year FY20 have indicated that the country’s economy has been moving towards a “right track and it is gradually stabilising.”
He gave these remarks during a meeting with Pakistan’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations Munir Akram.
He informed Mr Akram about measures taken by the government for improvement of the state’s economy and achieving positive results.
Traders demand business-friendly policies
The second day of a two-day nationwide shutter-down strike is being observed today against the federal government’s “unfair, ineffective and anti-traders economic policies and tax reforms.”
The representatives of traders’ organizations, while holding a press conference in Islamabad yesterday, claimed that the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) contained no viable formula and the bureau was unwilling to introduce an adequate and business-friendly method of taxation.
Contrarily, following the talks, finance advisor Abdul Hafeez Sheikh said the policies of the FBR were being improved and claimed that about 3 to 3.5 million traders were not included in the tax net.
“The government wants to collect taxes from whosoever is earning,” he said, adding that traders’ representatives have ensured to sit down with the IMF for talks to assist the government in evading the current impasse.
All major groups of traders have sought to bring trade and economic activities across the country to a standstill for building pressure on the government to change its policies and abolish the CNIC condition on transaction of Rs50,000 or above on locally produced items.
Traders have warned expanding the protest if the conditions, including presenting a CNIC copy for buying and selling goods up to Rs50,000 is not withdrawn.
All traders of Karachi under various associations have been asked to keep shutters down on both days to protest against additional duties and taxes on imports, sales tax registration, turnover tax, fixed tax etc.
Traders’ associations in Karachi, Lahore, Quetta and other parts of the country in support of the strike call given by All-Pakistan Anjuman-i-Tajiran (APAT) and the Pakistan Traders Alliance (PTA) have also planned for marching towards Islamabad in protest.
Besides, all markets in Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Quetta, Gujrat, Liaquatpur, Peshawar, Swabi and many other urban cities are observing shutdown strike in protest.
In Karachi, several markets and bazaars have been called by the Electronic Dealers’ Association and All Sarafa Jewelers’ Association to observe strike, a day before when the anti-government protest march by opposition parties would reach the federal capital.
The traders have demanded the government and the FBR to bring “business-friendly” policies as consumers have gradually squeezed their purchases due to sky-rocketing prices of essential commodities.
