PESHAWAR
Former vice president, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Mohammad Adnan Jalil has called for framing a 30-year economic vision for the country including signing of a charter of economy by all political parties and a roadmap for economic development.
He said that the vision prepared in this connection should be reviewed after the passage of a period of five years and no government should be allowed to change it on their own.
He said that due to inconsistency in policies and frequent changes in them we are issuing a huge number of SROs, which should be stopped. So we should have a 30-years vision, which should not be changed by the subsequent governments.
The FPCCI, all chambers and the business community should be taken on board in a true manner to seek a solution and how we should enhance our exports. He said that at this moment our export is about US$30billion and half of it is in the textile sector.
He said that elections have been passed, so now all political parties should show maturity and join hands for the country and its people. So, wisdom and unity must take place, because Pakistan is passing through economic turbulence.
He said we are in the 21st century and the world, including our neighbours moving in the right direction, then why not our country, which has potential and its people are resilient and hardworking. So, it is time that rather than our people move-out of the country, we should think more for Pakistan and create opportunities for them.
He said that we are required to adopt fixed taxation and it should be imposed on all such people who are not under the umbrella of any tax collection authority including Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) and provincial revenue authority. So if somebody is not paying any tax they should be imposed with a fixed tax of a minimal amount of Rs.1000/- to Rs.12000 per year. This fixed tax should be imposed on all shops to generate revenue for the country.
In this connection, he said the government can take the trading community including FPCCI and traders’ associations on board.
Furthermore, he also called for rationalizing and redefining the FBR, because the amount of taxation, withholding tax is tremendous. He said that the government should work in collaboration with the business community and restructure the taxation system in a manner to make it easy, simplified and workable.
For reduction in inflation and eradication of corruption, Adnan Jalil proposed demonetization of the currency note of Rs.5000/- in the first phase and Rs.1000/- in the second phase. He called for taking the step rapidly because corruption had taken place with the introduction of the denomination currency note of Rs.5000/- and these currency notes are dealt with anywhere.
He said that anyone presenting such big currency notes should have to reveal his source of income. The conditionality would make it difficult for many people to deposit these notes and a lot of black money would be flash out of the economy, which would also help in reducing inflation and corruption. So, the highest currency note in the country should be of Rs.500/-.
He said that the step would definitely go to help the nation as this kind of formulas have proved successful in Turkey and many Latin American countries, so he said such steps should also be taken in Pakistan immediately.
