Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Former President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Dr Shahid Rasheed Butt has said that the business community highly commends the initiatives of Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin aimed at rapid economic development.
He said that the decision of the finance minister not to increase power tariff and burden existing taxpayers while increase revenue has gone down very well with the business community and it has increased the confidence which will reflect in economic figures soon.
Shahid Rasheed said that the finance minister has decided to boost revenue by one trillion without burdening masses and business community so that the overall collection can reach near the IMF’s target of Rs5.9 trillion rupees for which the traders and industrialists will fully cooperate with the government.
He said that the government has focused on construction, remittances, agriculture, and exports during the last eleven months, which has generated some economic activity despite the pandemic, but the business community is awaiting more steps in the right direction to trigger growth and provide jobs.
The business leader further stated that increased revenue is imperative for reducing government’s dependence on loans, provide cheap credit to the private sector, reduce the size of the undocumented economy, and increase per capita income.
