KARACHI, July 27: Minister for Finance Shaukat Aziz has assured to clear outstanding sales tax refund claims within 48 hours after receipt and also resolve the duty drawback rates issue within a week.

In a meeting held with a delegation of Pakistan Leather Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PLGMEA) here on Friday, the minister said that after receiving complete outstanding month-wise sales tax refund amounts the dues will be cleared within 48 hours.

The PLGMEA team was led by its chairman Fawad Ijaz Khan also apprised the minister of the problems being faced by the leather garments industry, most important being the non-availability of good quality leather.

The team said that the good quality leather produced is being exported, mostly to countries competing with our leather garments and other leather products.

The PLGMEA reiterated its demand of imposing 20 per cent duty on export of leather to ensure availability of good quality leather for leather garment manufacturers.

The team members assured the minister that the downstream industry is capable of consuming all the leather being exported and could convert it into high value products. Upon this the minister assured to look into the matter after seeking view point of other side so that a balanced approach is taken.

The delegation requested the minister to look into the matter of duty drawback rates on leather garments and revise them to more effective rates, as clearly supported by the various records and data provided by PLGMEA to the Input Output Co-efficient Organization (IOCO), CBR. Shaukat Aziz assured that he will discuss this issue with the concerned authorities and get it resolved within one week’s time.

The PLGMEA delegation pointed out various bottlenecks in taxation, imports and exports and offered suggestions to streamline the system. The minister asked the association to provide details of these suggestions to him in the form of working papers so that appropriate action can be taken to remove such irritants and make the working of such systems smooth and hassle free.