There was a rather unique press conference at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Tuesday. It was not a textile association or a business chamber holding a briefing to demand lower taxes or cheaper electricity. It was the people who help run Pakistan’s industrial and services sectors.
In what was in all likelihood their first media appearance, members representing Pakistan’s salaried group held a short and concise press briefing listing their complaints and appealed to Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb to pay heed.
“What was the point of a well-informed person from the formal sector taking over the reins if tax collection was to be increased like this?” asked Adeel Ahmed Khan, member of the ‘Salaried Class Alliance Pakistan’, in a press conference inside KPC premises.
Ironically, while they were holding the briefing, Aurangzeb was introducing the minor modifications to the budget in the National Assembly in Islamabad. The finance chief did not mention the salaried group.
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Nonetheless, six members representing the so-called alliance were present at the briefing, taking turns as they listed grievances with Pakistan’s taxation system.
Adeel’s reference was towards Aurangzeb, who was the president and CEO of Habib Bank Limited before he left the positions to take over as finance chief amid hope that he could help steer the economy out of trouble.
Instead, what Pakistan’s salaried group saw was the imposition of higher taxes in Aurangzeb’s first budget announcement earlier this month, sending shivers down people employed in the formal sector.
“If taxes were to be increased like – Rs100 billion from here and Rs50 billion from there – then anyone could have done this.”
The rather-hastily arranged press briefing came after the government increased tax liability for all persons earning more than Rs50,000 a month in Budget 2024-25 announced on June 12.
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