Sunday, April 08, 2012

Govt should end receiving ‘extortion money’ on POL products: Sattar

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Farooq Sattar on Saturday demanded that the government stop “receiving Rs 10 extortion money on petroleum products”.
Addressing reporters during his visit to the Rawalapindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), Sattar, who is also minister for overseas Pakistanis, said it was great injustice to people to charge additional amounts on petroleum products.
He said that a persistent economic decline had posed serious threats to sovereignty of the country and made lives of people miserable. The MQM leader said the ongoing energy crisis should be ended on a priority basis. In Karachi, he added, a conspiracy was being hatched to disturb order in the city. He said economy of Karachi and that of the rest of the country were interconnected.
"Therefore, the ground situation should be tackled wisely.”
Sattar, who also presented MQM’s seven-point economic reform agenda to RCCI office-bearers, said that landlords and the elite class were not ready to pay taxes. This, he said, contributed negatively towards the national exchequer. Highlighting salient features of the MQM’s reforms agenda, he said the sales tax ration should be lowered from 16 percent to 12 percent and feudals and landlords should be brought into the tax net. He said the youth and women from rural areas should be given “easy loans” to improve their economic situation. He stressed on improving the affairs of IESCO, PEPCO, PIA and Pakistan Railways by introducing public-private partnership to lower financial losses of these entities.
Sattar also vowed to have a debate with the Pakistan People’s Party to introduce a group taxation procedure. RCCI President Akhtar Bhatti flayed the role of government and its economic policies, saying the regime had failed to improve the economic situation of the country. In the upcoming polls, he said, several chambers of commerce and trader associations had decided to support those political forces, which would come up with a strong economic agenda.

Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk

Back to Top