ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan has said that the government is taking various steps for the revival of sick industrial units in the country.
Responding to a question during the question-answer session in the National Assembly on Wednesday, he said that various concessions are available to local manufacturers including manufacturers belonging to the pharmaceutical, textile, solar, aviation, mining and agro-based Industries.
He further said that regulatory duty has also been levied on import of many items which are locally manufactured to encourage the local industry.
To another question, he said that a uniform industrial policy has been adopted and with no discrimination against or special treatment with any area of the country.
The minister said that the government is also taking measures to reduce the cost of doing business in Pakistan and added that the prime minister will announce a comprehensive package in two or three weeks regarding industrial refunds.
Responding to a Calling Attention Notice, he said that BISP is conducting a nationwide survey to update the National Socio-Economic Registry, after which new cards will be issued to the eligible beneficiaries.
Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan said that currently, the survey is in pilot phase after which the national rollout phase will begin. He further informed that so far the survey has been completed in 14 districts of Pakistan and a third-party evaluation will be done to check any discrepancy in the survey.
Responding to another question, Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan informed the NA that the government has taken various steps to get information regarding ill-gotten money stashed in foreign banks and added that the government will soon be getting information regarding Swiss bank accounts owned by Pakistan.
The NA also passed three bills namely ‘The Federal Employees Benevolent Fund and Group Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2017’, ‘The Marine Insurance Bill 2017’ and ‘The Corporate Rehabilitation Bill 2017’.
