Outrightly rejecting the imposition of General Sales Tax on cotton lint and Cotton Seed oil,Dr. Jassu Mal T Meelani Chairman of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) said that Govt had put the nail in the coffin of Cotton under the pressure of IMF and other global financial institutions.
This step is harmful to the country's economy and against the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
He was addressing a Press Conference here alongwith Haji Muhammasd Akram Former Chairman PCGA, Mian Fazal Elahi Sheikh Ex-President of Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) Senior Vice Chairman Malik Tufail Ahmed, Suhail Mehmood Haral, Sheikh Muhammad Asim Saeed, Mehr Muhammad Ashraf Mahar,Rao Sadaruddin,and Asif Khalil.
He feared that Cotton sector would be totally collapsed with the closure of 1200 ginning factories redering thousands of people jobless..He said that growers would be forced to opt other crops if Government does not ensure fair return of their produce.
He said that Government had stabbed into the back of growers as well as Ginners by enhancing the GST from 10 to 17 percenton cotton lint.He said that a committee headed by Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser had agreed with the PCGA delegation that there should be no tax on cotton at any stage but Government did not waive this tax and imposed this proposal.
They announced closing down ginning factories across the country if the decision to increase the sales tax and impose new taxes were not withdrawn.He said that it seemed that the budget was based on cotton animosity as increasing the sales tax rate from 10 per cent to 17 per cent on cotton lint and imposing a new sales tax of 17 per cent on cottonseed oil will prove disastrous for the cotton industry.
“Already the cotton production has fallen from 15 million bales to a low of 5.5 million bales due to the lack of effective policies while only 450 ginning factories, out of 1,200, in the country are operational. The fresh taxes on both commodities will cut the cotton production,” he said.
He said the prices of ghee and cooking oil would increase rapidly because of this only decision of the government which would also be resulted in an increase in inflation.
He said if the government was not going to end these taxes, the ginners would have no other option but only to protest by closing their factories.
“Ministers and parliamentarians should come forward and play their role to end these taxes. The policy of ‘grow cotton and save the economy’ is the only policy which could ensure the prosperity of the farmers, end the unemployment and strengthen the economy,” he said.