KARACHI, March 28: Chairman Central Board of Revenue (CBR) Abdullah Yousuf has said that the government is determined to make all out efforts to support local business and industry in the forthcoming budget. At a pre-budget seminar organized by the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP), he said that the country’s economic growth rate was very encouraging, which would generate good investment activities and create new jobs and alleviate poverty.

According to a press release issued by the ICMAP the CBR chief said that a growth rate of 7 per cent was likely to be achieved. The economy had continued to perform strongly despite rising oil prices and the destruction caused by the October 8 earthquake.

He said that although cotton and sugarcane production would be less than last year, other components of national economy were likely to perform better than the target.

The chairman said that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had directed that the outlay for the public sector development programmes for the next financial year should be increased.

Addressing the seminar President ICMAP, Sher Afghan Malik said that Pakistan’s economy had continued to perform strongly over the last several years with economic growth accelerating to 8.4 per cent in 2004-05, its fastest pace in two decades. Others who spoke on the occasion included MD Karachi Stock Exchange, M A Lodhi; Chairman SITE Association, Ameen Bandukda; Chairman APTMA Mushtaq Vohra; Chairman Textile and Cotton Committee of FPCCI Dr Mirza Ikhtiar Baig; Collector Sales Tax, Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU), Shahzada Tahir Zaman; DG LTU Malik Bashir Ahmed and DGM Attock Cement Irfan Amanullah.