April 21, 2007	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 03, 1428

ISLAMABAD, April 20: Pakistan Computer Association (PCA) has demanded withdrawal of 15 per cent general sales tax (GST) on computer equipments in the upcoming budget of 2007-08.

The levy introduced in the last year budget has resulted into 35 per cent decrease in computer business just in a short period of 10 months. It did not only increase the prices of computers and accessories but also enhanced the cost of all services and businesses relating to computer industry.

President PCA Munawar Iqbal after a meeting of the stakeholders flayed the government for not properly responding to the concern of the IT companies and said that the prime minister even did not bother to meet the stakeholders despite several requests.

He said that this tax had played the role of a virus for computer industry during the current financial year and all the stakeholders suffered huge losses.

Quoting a report released by the world known Springboard Research, he stated that in Pakistan PC shipments could grow only by 16.4 per cent in 2006, which was much lesser than the expected market performance.

According to Springboard Research Asia Emerging Countries (AEC) quarterly report local IT companies would suffer most from Pakistan's current market conditions because of the GST.

He said that the government policies to support fair market competition have been undermined by the GST despite the fact that the authorities have implemented IT development measures such as infrastructure building and automation.

President PCA said that the small and medium size business enterprises (SMEs) showed less IT spending in 2006 and were still waiting for the government to abolish the GST.