Businessmen for fixed taxation regime.

LAHORE -- The Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the country at a convention on 'Revitalization of Economy' have expressed reservations on taxation system and called for fixed taxation regime and revival of self-assessment scheme.

LCCI President Almas Hyder presided over the meeting and gave a brainstorming presentation on economic issues, their causes and solution. On the occasion LCCI Senior Vice President Khawaja Shahzad Nasir, Vice President Faheem-ur-Rehman Saigal, President Faisalabad Chamber Syed Zia Alumdar Hussain, President Islamabad Chamber Ahmad Hassan Mughal, President Sahiwal Chamber Ch Rashid Hameed, SVP Kohat Chamber M Shahid, President and Vice President Gujrat Chamber Amer Noman and Muhammad Altaf, Ahsan Sarwar from Sahiwal Chamber, President Sialkot Chamber Khawaja Masud Akhter, President Khanewal Chamber Habib Ur Rehman, Adil Farooq Khan from Khanewal Chamber, President Gujranwala Chamber Asim Anees, President Haripur Chamber Atta Ur Rehman Yousafzai and representative of Vihari Chamber, Mian Muhammad Ashraf, Iftikhar Ali Malik, Bashir A Baksh, Mian Anjum Nisar, Sheikh Muhammad Asif, Shahid Hassan Sheikh, Irfan Iqbal Sheikh. Khawaja Khawar Rasheed and LCCI EC members also expressed their views.

The participants said that Pakistan's economy is at a critical juncture. The legacy of misaligned economic policies and the decision to enter IMF package recently, have resulted in significant economic challenges including devaluation, hike in policy rate, soaring inflation and shrinking economy in FY 2019. They said that the structural weaknesses like burgeoning fiscal deficit, weak tax administration, loss making state owned enterprises (SOEs) and difficult business environment remain largely unaddressed. The federal budget does not talk about jobs, growth and the vision of a large economy. This scenario has created an environment of uncertainty for businesses and deterred them from working freely. Without urgent policy action, economic and financial stability could be at risk, and growth prospects will be insufficient. In this context, it is imperative to discuss reasons of uncertainty in the economy and recommend viable policy actions to the government for removing this element of uncertainty and letting businesses work freely.

They said that rupee devaluation, policy rate, inflation, taxation system, elimination of SRO 1125 and refunds to exporters, SOEs, investment and regulatory environment and gap between revenue and...