Traders call off strike after talks.

LAHORE -- Many shopkeepers reopened their businesses in Lahore on Wednesday evening as traders called off two-day countrywide strike following successful negotiations with the federal government over new tax policy.

The shutter down strike began on Tuesday morning on the call given by All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajiran. The traders were demanding the government to take back new taxation measures including mandatory tax sales registration and the condition of presenting a copy of ID-card for buying and selling of products.

After successful talks between traders and government, the Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan to intervene and play his role in a peaceful and long-term solution of the problems being faced by the business community.

One day protest costs Rs30b

PIAF chairman Mian Nauman Kabir on Wednesday said that economy suffers an estimated loss of around Rs30 billion in a single day due to the shutter-down strike of small businesses. He said that traders' turnover across the country stands at around Rs.50 billion while the share of this retail sector in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stands at around 20 percent.

'According to rough calculations, retailers do businesses worth around Rs30 billion in one day,' he explained. The PIAF Chairman was of the view that the traders, who just wanted the government to simplify the tax procedure, were playing a crucial role in importing raw material and finished goods and supplying them throughout the domestic economy.

Nauman Kabir said small traders and the citizens were already facing severe financial crunch, as the government had levied heavy taxes on mere assumptions. He said that Pakistan's economy is very different from that of the developed world, as its large part of the businesses is undocumented which can be registered through a gradual process. He said that IMF dictations regarding tax collection had made life difficult for the masses. He said that tax measures by the IMF are not aligned with the ground realities while FBR harassment had created mistrust and prompted protests across the country.

The PIAF Chairman also appealed to the prime minister and the PM's Advisor on Finance to give due consideration to the demands of traders. He suggested that instead of enforcing tax laws in one go, the government should adopt a...