PBC strongly supports efforts to document economy

KARACHI: The Pakistan Business Council (PBC) expressed strong support of the finance minister’s efforts to document the economy and improve the climate for business in the country.

The PBC urged the Finance Minister to “hold the line” on documenting the economy and stay the course on pursuing the untaxed sectors.

Chairman PBC, Mr. Atif Aslam Bajwa, who is also President of Bank Alfalah, welcomed the introduction of the Benami Transaction Bill in the National Assembly and urged the government to ensure its early passage through Parliament.

Bajwa said, “benami transactions have over the years created serious distortions in various sectors of the economy, including banking.”

He further added, “for Pakistani banks and financial sector companies to develop global competencies, a transparent environment is a pre-requisite.”

Mr. Ehsan Malik the CEO of the Pakistan Business Council said, “PBC appreciates the improvement in the economy under the Finance Minister’s leadership. Whilst there are some issues from the Finance Act 2016 that need to be resolved, we believe the government merits full support in the effort to document the economy and broaden the tax base. PBC will work with the Government to develop a national consensus on policies that create fiscal space for development and remove the need for short term tactical measures, which create uncertainty and harm the investment climate. The policies should encourage capital formation and promote scale to achieve sustainable employment and exports. PBC believesthat Pakistan can achieve 7%‐8% pa growth if all stakeholders join in this national quest. The global decline in commodity prices and improving law and order conditions offer a golden opportunity, which should not be wasted in unnecessary debate.”

Mr. Muhammad Ali Tabba, Vice Chairman of PBC and CEO of Lucky Cement welcomed the initiation of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and other major infrastructure projects in the country and hoped that these will bring major changes in the economy.”

Mr. Ali S Habib, former Chairman of PBC and Chairman of Indus Motor Company said, “by creating a distinction between filers and non-filers the foreign minister has sent a clear signal to the undocumented sector, that it is time for them to come into the formal sector.”

Habib further added that he along with other directors of the PBC urge the foreign minister to reconsider his decision on levying a reduced rate of tax on banking transactions for non-filers and to restore it to the proposed 0.6 percent.”

Mr. Arif Habib, director of PBC and Chairman of the Arif Habib Group supported the foreign minister’s efforts to document ownership of urban land to prevent it from becoming a parking lot for untaxed funds.

“A vibrant real-estate sector is about construction on plots, not about speculation in land,” said Habib adding, “Pakistan faces a brain-drain each year, as professionals feeling they can never own decent property in Pakistan due to speculation, leave the country in search of better opportunities; their departure is severely impacting competitiveness of Pakistan.”