Friday, March 29, 2024

Economists and activists condemn rising indirect taxes and inflation

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A group of economists, labor and women’s rights activists expressed their serious concerns about the high reliance on indirect taxes in the 2021-22 federal budget. unemployment rate.

Dr. Pervaiz Tahir, Dr. Aqdas Afzal, and Dr. Asad Sayeed spoke at a post-budget seminar organized by the Pakistan Labor Education and Research Institute (PILER) on Wednesday. Human rights activists including Karamat Ali of PILER, Mahnaz Rahman of Aurat Foundation, Farhat Parveen of NOW Communities, Dr. Rubina Saigol of Women’s Action Forum, and Nasir Mansoor of the National Federation of Trade Unions also made speeches.

Dr. Tahir said that due to rising inflation, the real income of workers has been affected. Although the minimum wage for unskilled workers has been raised to 20,000 rupees and the wages of government employees have also increased by 10%, real wages have actually fallen by about 14% because the average inflation rate, he said, is 17.9%.

He said that the budget has nothing to do with the working class. “Direct taxes such as income tax only accounted for 37.4% of total income, while the main part of 62.6% came from indirect taxes paid by ordinary people.”

Dr. Tahir recalled that about 10 years ago, a study calculated that the living wage of ordinary households should be around 27,000 rupees a month and should double within ten years by 2021.

“The Sindh provincial government has raised the minimum wage to 25,000 rupees, which is almost close to the living wage calculated about 10 years ago,” he said. Dr. Afzal, Director of the Social Development and Policy Program and Assistant Professor of Habib University, said: “Covid-19 is a major public health crisis in the world and caused the worst recession. This is even worse than the Great Depression of 1929. .”

A large number of business closures around the world have led to the disappearance of millions of jobs. He said that the 2021-22 budget is neither good for the people nor tax exempt. “The budget is’business as usual’.

Dr. Afzal pointed out that poverty can cause problems such as lack of social solidarity. From the fact that people do not accept checks from their compatriots, it is obvious that there is a lack of trust and confidence between each other. They mainly trade in cash. “If we look at literary works, we will know that poverty will increase social unrest in society,” he added.

Dr. Said is also a member of the Sindh National Financial Commission (NFC). He said that due to Covid-19, the GDP growth rate has fallen and the government’s 4% figure is incorrect. He added that major industrial sectors such as textiles have not grown.

“The government’s revenue target of Rs 4.7 trillion is very ambitious. Even three years ago, the government set a tax target of Rs 4.3 trillion, but it has never been achieved in the past three years.”

“The government imposes new taxes on milk powder and meat, which will further increase the inflation rate. Food inflation is already between 16% and 20%,” he added. Rahman said that the poverty rate of women is higher than that of men, and the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated this situation.

She said: “Covid-19 is still haunting us. The poor have been hit hard by the long-term blockade and business closures.” She emphasized the need to launch a publicity campaign aimed at solving the problems of ordinary people.


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