Islamabad, June 27, 2022 (PPI-OT):The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Sunday said it supports the decision of the government to impose of super tax on major industries and close markets at 9 pm. However, these measures could be improved by closing markets at dusk as practised in many developed countries while super tax must be imposed on other sectors, it said. National security is at stake but industrialists and traders are wailing over taxes which is irresponsibility, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President of PEW.

Dozens of countries had imposed super tax and emergency tax on the affluent class as soon as the outbreak of Coronavirus started which is still being collected but the burden of the epidemic in Pakistan was put on the people instead of the rich, he said. The industrial elite wants the entire burden of saving the country to be put on the people even at this critical stage, which is the height of indifference and irresponsibility, he added.

In a statement issued here, Dr Murtaza Mughal said that it was impossible to ensure economic self-sufficiency and reduce poverty and inflation without taxing the nobility. This tax should also be levied on more sectors and the process of granting exemptions and unnecessary concessions to the agricultural elite, wholesalers and retailers should be stopped.

He said that the super tax would benefit the country and the nation only if the big industries are not allowed to increase the prices of their goods otherwise they will increase the prices of their goods and the entire burden of this tax will fall on the consumers. The government’s plan to close markets at 9 pm was correct but could be improved because in dozens of developed countries where there is no crisis markets are closed by evening and this can happen in Pakistan too.

He said that traders and industrialists have been pressuring the government to reverse the decisions but no compromise should be made on it. If the government stops keeping the failed state-owned companies artificially alive, it is possible to double the revenue compared to the super tax.

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