QUETTA: The federal budget for the year 2022-23 presented by Shehbaz-led coalition on Friday has drawn mixed reaction from the business community of Balochistan.

The business leaders called it a `tough budget’, yet they noted that the federal government had given some relaxation to traders in sales tax returns and payment of claims.

The president of Quetta Cha­m­ber of Commerce and Industry, Fida Hussain Dashti and senior vice president Mohammad Ayub Mariani, while talking to the media on Saturday, said the government had tried to give some relaxation to people in different fields, but the economic crisis being faced by the country had tied its hands to provide meaningful relief.

They pointed out that the allocation for turning the national highways into dual carriage and number of scholarship for the students of Balochistan was un­­clear in the budget. They said that national highways in Baloch­is­tan were in bad shape. They recalled that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had recently promised to convert the Quetta-Karachi national highway into dual carriage, but the communication sector’s allocation of Rs202 billion did not reflect it.

The QCCI president said: “We are not against more taxes on luxury vehicles, but not giving relief on the construction items is not justified.”

However, he said, the government’s decisions regarding payment of Rs40.5bn claims and sales tax returns to traders and industrialists, customs duty on agricultural machinery and abolition of sales tax on solar panels are welcome. He suggested that the government should exempt 400 items being imported through land route.

Senior Vice President Ayub Mariani while speaking said the business community considers the budget very tough but hopes that the present government would take positive steps to alleviate financial difficulties facing the country and the province.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2022