President Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry Balochistan Fida Hussain Dashti and Senior Vice President Muhammad Ayub Mariani and others termed the federal budget for the year 2022-23 as a tough budget. The number of student scholarships is unclear, which is not a good omen.
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“Prompt payment of Rs 40.5 billion claims and sales tax returns to traders and industrialists, customs duty on agricultural machinery, abolition of sales tax on solar panels are welcome,” Trade Union leader said.
He expressed these views while talking to media persons after the federal budget at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Quetta, Balochistan on Friday.
Officials and members of Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry also drew the attention of the Prime Minister.
“He assured that steps would be taken to improve the condition of highways in Balochistan and to make Quetta-Karachi highway two-lane,” said official of Chamber, adding, “but today in the budget an amount of Rs. 202 billion has been allocated for the communication sector which does not change the condition of highways in Balochistan.”
He said, “We are not against the announcement of increase in tax on luxury vehicles but it is not right not to give relief on construction items. We want items imported through land route to be exempted from taxes on 400 items.”
He said, “We welcome the announcement of 5000 scholarships in the budget for the students of the districts to be merged in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but the number of scholarships for the students of Balochistan should not be ambiguous because backward like Balochistan. Immediate and effective measures are needed for the development of education in the province.
He said that Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry Quetta Balochistan has always wanted the construction and operation of special economic zones in the country and the province but the immediate activation of two of the nine special economic zones has been announced.
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“We welcome the announcement of immediate refund of claims and sales tax returns of Rs 40.5 billion and hope that there will be no further delay in this regard,” he said.
He also welcomed the announcement of interest free and easy installment loans for unemployed youth and said that it would help in tackling the challenges of unemployment in the country.
He said that the proposal to exempt industries from loadshedding was also welcome. He also appreciated the elimination of sales tax on solar panels, customs duty on agricultural machinery and seeds and said that it would bring relief to the people.
He said that in the past and now next year’s financial budget, although the welfare of the people and others were included, but it is not right to present a new budget every three months.
He said, “We consider the budget as a tough budget and hoped that the present government would take positive steps to alleviate the financial difficulties facing the country and the province.”
