KARACHI - The federal governments decision of linking the opening of a new bank account with the provision of National Tax Number (NTN) has been termed as infeasible and impracticable by the banking and private sector experts, The Nation learnt. In the new budget for 2009-10, the federal government has made mandatory the provision of NTN for opening a new bank account. Sources said that how the students, house-wives, labourers, farmers and other common people, who want to open new bank accounts, would be able to provide National Tax Number to the banks. Hundreds of thousands of small farmers, students, labourers, retailers and house-wives, etc., neither pay income tax nor file any tax return and how they would be arranging the NTN, a banker said. He said that the condition was childish and the policy-makers should explain why the condition of NTN had been mentioned in the new budget for opening a bank account. It would not only disappoint the above-quoted segments of the society, but also cause a setback to the growth of the customers-base of the banking sector in 2009-10, he added. Apparently the government had included the NTN condition with the aim to bring into tax-net the people who want to open a bank account, but the policy-makers did not bother to understand that there are millions of people who either do not earn money or their income is not taxable and how they would arrange NTN, banker said. Thousands of labourers and semi-skilled persons, working in different industries in the country do not hold NTN as their income is below the taxable threshold and how they would be able to open new account from July 2009, an industrialist argued. The NTN condition is ridiculous and it was not based on proper home-work by the policy-makers who decided to include it in the new budget, he added. A senior banker said that the NTN condition would be a setback for the banking sector growth in the country in future. Pursuing the expansion plans the banks are going to open hundreds of new branches every year in different areas, including rural and sub-urban, where the people do not file tax returns and they would not be able to open new bank accounts, he said. We are planning to open branches in rural areas to target the agriculture sector and the NTN condition would be a setback for us, he added. The bankers and the corporate sector experts also lambasted the government for enhancing the Federal Excise Duty on banking service from 10 to 16 per cent in the new budget that would put additional financial burden on the customers of the banks, he said. The banks are already charging 10 per cent FED from their customers against the provision of different services and the FED rate from July 2009 would be raised to 16 per cent, he said.