ISLAMABAD: All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association (APTPMA)
on Thursday asked the government to clear the pending sales tax refunds and ensure smooth provision of LNG to textile processing units.“The government
should resolve these two issues to enhance the textileexports”
said a representative of APTPMA after holding meeting with Adviser to Prime
Minister on Finance, Dr. Miftah Ismail here Thursday. The delegation was led by
Zubair Motiwala.Adviser Miftah Ismail assured the APTPMA representatives of all
possible support to resolve their problems. He said that the issues are already
under active consideration of the government and appropriate decisions will be
taken soon.
Sources
said that government is already working to clear the pending sales tax refunds within next one month. PML-N President
and former Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif recently directed Miftah Ismail
to clear the 100 percent sales tax refunds of
the textile sector by February 15 this year. The
PML-N chief also directed Miftah to reduce the gas prices to address the
concerns of the industrialists, who are worried about gas prices and Gas
Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC). The government had already accepted one
of the major proposals of the exporters to devalue the rupee by 5 percent
against the US dollar that would help in enhancing the exports .
Sources
further informed that government is taking policy directives on key economic
decisions for the upcoming general elections 2018. The government wants to
enhance the exports .Pakistan’s exports were recorded at $11 billion during
July-December of the year 2017-18 as compared to $9.9 billion of the
corresponding period of the last year, showing a growth of 11.24 percent.
Meanwhile,
a delegation of Pak-Afghan Chamber of Commerce & Industries also called on
Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Dr Miftah Ismail here Thursday.Members of
the Pak-Afghan Chamber of Commerce & Industries apprised the Adviser of the
difficulties being faced due to regulatory duty on different types of fruits
being imported from Afghanistan. They requested for easing out the duty regime
saying the gesture would have positive impact on overall bilateral trade.Adviser
said that the government wishes to promote trade with Afghanistan and will
review the matter in consultation with all the stakeholders, with a view to
finding a solution, favourable for bilateral trade.
Source: The Nation, Pakistan Saturday, 13 January 2018