The Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) lamented the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Ministry of Finance and Commerce for not taking stakeholders on board prior to finalising the Fiscal Budget 2019-20.
The RCCI President Malik Shahid Saleem said in a statement that it was the first time that Government authorities have failed to involve key stakeholders in consultation and decision making process.
He added: the rise in petroleum prices has pushed Consumer Price Index (CPI) into double digit which is highest in last 7 years.
“We already suffered through uncertainty for the last 18 months and business community is assessing major blow to manufacturing sector due to high tariff in power and gas sectors.
He said RCCI in the first week of April had already submitted a set of proposals for consideration and incorporation in the federal budget 2019-20.
“We were expecting that FBR and Finance ministry will reach out to chamber of commerce and other key stakeholders for budget preparation and finalizing the key proposals. But it seems that the fiscal budget will be presented without input from the stakeholders”, Shahid Saleem said.
RCCI President further informed that the chamber had in its proposals to FBR- increasing economic activity, providing incentives for manufacturing and SMEs and widening the tax net thereby increasing the government revenue.
The proposals had been categorized into income tax, sales tax and custom duties with special focus on the documentation of the economy.
