KARACHI: Pakistan Business Council (PBC) has demanded the Sindh government of suspending collection of infrastructure to provide relief the industrial and businesses in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.
In a letter sent to Sindh Chief Ministry Syed Murad Ali Shah, the PBC demanded the suspension of collections under the Sindh Development and Maintenance of Infrastructure Cess Act, 2017.
The PBC is composed of country’s leading employers, including multinationals. PBC members, directly and through members in their value chains provide employment to more than two million individuals.
The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted liquidity of businesses in Pakistan including those operating in Sindh.
While PBC members are committed to retaining their direct employees and are also taking steps to ensure that livelihoods of employees in their supply chain are not adversely impacted, they do however, look towards governments for the maximum help to ensure that liquidity is available to pay these unusual expenses.
“We are therefore writing to request you to initially suspend all collections under the Sindh Development & Maintenance of Infrastructure Cess Act 2017 till June 30, 2020. The exemption may be reviewed in June and extended if the crisis persists,” it said.
The government of Punjab on April 02, announced the suspension of collections under the Punjab Infrastructure Development Cess Act 2015 till June 30th, 2020.
The PBC hopes for a similar gesture from the Government of Sindh and requests that the announcement for the suspension of collections under the Sindh Development & Maintenance of Infrastructure Cess Act 2017 be made at the earliest.
