ISLAMABAD: A telecom sector delegation on Thursday requested Minister of Finance Miftah Ismail to remove the prior approval requirement imposed by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for the import of telecom equipment and reduce withholding tax from 15 per cent to 8pc on essential telecom services.

A delegation called on the finance minister and the Minister of IT & Telecom, Syed Amin-Ul-Haque, in separate meetings. The delegates told the government that the economic conditions and policy making in Pakistan were threatening the survival of the telecom sector in the country.

The finance minister assured the delegation, which included Veon Group’s CEO Kaan Terzioglu, head of investor relations Nik Kershaw, shareholder Matteo Scolari, and Jazz CEO Aamir Ibrahim, that their issues would be resolved at the earliest and stressed foreign investment in various sectors in Pakistan.

Mr Terzioglu said that the telecom industry has been severely impacted due to an unprecedented rise in the cost of operations, primarily higher costs of fuel, electricity, interest rates, and constantly increasing dollar-pegged spectrum installments.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2022