Islamabad, July 01, 2021 (PPI-OT):The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Thursday said tax exemptions for erstwhile FATA and PATA has the potential to jeopardize the future of some important industrial sectors in the taxed areas. The exemptions have not gone down well with the investors who are not looking for venues for investment but trying to save their investments, he said.

The ghee, cooking oil and steel industry will be worst hit in the taxed areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and up to Jhelum in Punjab province while its impact would be felt as far as Lahore, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President PEW. According to industry experts, the cost of production of one kilogram of ghee and cooking oil will be reduced by Rs44 to Rs 46 in exempted areas while the cost of producing steel will be down by Rs 25 to Rs 27 resulting in the closure of industries.

He said that benefiting an area at the cost of other is not a good move as exemptions have always been misused for the profit of a few. The business community is worried that things produced in tribal areas will be sold in settled areas of KP, and Punjab and that there is no justification for repeating the failed experience of Gadoon Industrial Estate.

Some elements will establish their industrial units in cities to sell their products labelled as manufactured in tribal areas, he said. Industrialists are worried that the decision will not benefit the government or masses but the timeservers, he said.

For more information, contact:
President
Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW)
402, 4th Floor, Gulistan Khan House, Fazal-e-Haq Road,
82-East, Blue Area, Islamabad
Tel: +92-51-2510375
Fax: +92-51-2802449
Cell: +92-321-5157671
Email: president@pakistaneconomywatch.com
Web: www.pakistaneconomywatch.com