Pakistani exports in peril, KCCI

01 Dec '07

4 min read

He expressed his apprehension that knowing all these issues and matters and their repercussions, government appears to have retained an indifferent and cold shoulder attitude towards the sustainability and survival of export sector.

While commenting on the stuck up sales tax amount he said that a large amount of money against sales tax refund is lying in backlog with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and so far FBR has only succeeded in refunding around Rs 4 bn as sales tax arrears to the exporters during the first quarter of the current fiscal year 2007-08.

He added that with such a slow tendency in clearing the backlog of sales tax amount exporters would face difficulty in carrying out the production activities in a sustainable and viable manner.

Mr. Agar, in his press statement, also drew the attention towards unnecessary delay in the clearance of Research and development (R & D) claims pending with State Bank of Pakistan.

He also criticized the over-defined role of associations during the processing and endorsement of documents he also said that once the documents are scrutinized by bank officials and state bank then direct payment of R & D should be made to exporters by SBP. He said that India and China were capturing the share of Pakistani textile exports as a result of different subsidies which exporters of these countries are getting from their governments but on the contrary at our side cost of doing business is going higher with no respite to exporters at all.

Mr. Mohammad Haroon Agar expressed his fear that under the current scenario when Pakistani exports are facing cut-throat competition if remedial measures are not taken then Pakistan would even lose the existing international market share vis-à-vis exports.

Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry

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