KARACHI:Chairman of the All Pakistan Steel Re-Rolling Mills Association and former Vice President FPCCI Karim Aziz Malik has emphasized the need that steel re-rolling sector be included in the economic recovery package. Welcoming Prime Minister Imran Khan’s package for economic recovery, he said steel re-rolling sector provide huge employment and pays billions of rupees in taxes and utility bills so this sector be included in the economic recovery package.
He said that the private sector should be consulted for economic recovery issue, make the package successful and the overall situation would improve. Karim Aziz Malik pointed out that business activities have been reduced due to the coronavirus which has put the steel industry in crisis. He said that the construction sector is not active, work on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and other development projects have been closed for several months, which has added to the problems for the sector.
He said the banks’ high interest rates, 1.5 percent turnover-tax, rising energy prices and the withdrawal of fixed sales tax facility from the steel sector have also added to the problem of the steel sector. He demanded that interest rates for the steel sector should be zeroed, interest payments on former loans should be delayed for six months and turnover tax should be reduced from one and a half percent.