KARACHI: Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Ghazanfar Bilour has urged the government to honour its commitment and start processing refund claims to the exporters which have now accumulated to the tune of more than Rs300 billion.
The FPCCI chief lamented, “It is unfortunate that the government has completely ignored the misery of the exporters who have their billions of rupees stuck in refund claims for years”. He recalled that Prime Minister of Pakistan Shahid Khaqan Abbasi about seven months ago in his meeting with the FPCCI delegation had promised that the claims would be processed immediately but nothing has happened since then.
He further elaborated that the cash crunch because of the stuck up money had forced the businessmen, especially exporters, to close their manufacturing units and as such has severely affected the economy, and resulted in an increase in unemployment ratio of the country and has rendered the businessmen frustrated.
He argued that small and medium-sized exporters are facing survival issues and those who can afford it are looking towards other countries to set up their manufacturing units which is resulting in flight of capital out of Pakistan.
“This underscores the need that the government should take this very seriously”, the FPCCI president said. He, referring to the country’s economic future outlook warned that it is alarming as the loss of confidence of business community in governments commitments in giving back their legitimate refunds would further erode their confidence and make things worse.
