Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Senior Vice President Khawaja Shahzeb Akram has criticised the government for imposing a tax on medicine “which will take them out of the reach of the poor man.”
He was addressing an emergency meeting with officials of Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Distributors (PPMA) at the FPCCI Regional Office in Lahore.
Khawaja Shahzeb said that the government has introduced a complex tax system in budget 2021-22 as a result of which retailers are not buying medicines. As retailers refrain from purchasing medicines, they will not be available in the market, he added.
He claimed that the government has not provided any relief to the common man in the current budget. He demanded that the government must immediately withdraw tax so that common man would not suffer.
Officials of Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Distributors said that if the government did not provide them relief in the new tax system, they would be forced to shut down their business.
The meeting was also attended by Mian Khalid Misbah-ur-Rehman, Senior Vice Chairman of PPMA; Hamid Raza, Convener, FPCCI’s Regional Standing Committee on Pharmaceuticals; Adeel Haider, Dr Faisal, Shahid Malik, Rafaqat Ali, and Chaudhry Muhammad Yaseen.
