RAWALPINDI, APR 26 (DNA) – The Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) has urged Government to slash sales tax and deferred income tax to put economy back on track.

Saboor Malik, president RCCI in a statement said that “Pakistan’s economy is in dire straits due to the Corona Lockdown.

The imports and exports closed and trade activities at local level have been minimized which further contracted the economy into a negative growth tunnel. In order to get the economy back on track, the sales tax rate should be brought down to five per cent, he suggested.

The Corona outbreak also gave an important opportunity for Pakistan to engage in meaningful dialogue with the outside world to better reschedule and forgive debts, he added.

The Ministry of Finance and Commerce must reach out to the relevant stakeholders and come out with a comprehensive and long term policy, he further commented.

All sectors are interconnected with each other and a long-term policy will have to be adopted as Corona’s losses will span decades.

The monster of unemployment is in front, he cautioned. The prices of petroleum products will have to be further reduced, the price of electricity and gas should be reduced as well as a comprehensive program will have to be introduced in which discounts will have to be given under different slabs.

Steps will have to be taken outside the routine to restore the supply chain and drive economic activity.

The RCCI president added that a conducive and secure environment has to be restored otherwise the customer will not come out for the shopping, he warned. Therefore, it is important to improve the lockdown with effective SOPs so that the cases of Corona are gradually reduced.=DNA

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