RAWALPINDI      -     Traders want seriousness from FBR and Commerce ministry in resolving key issues and result-oriented talks to address their grievances. Addressing traders meeting at Chamber House, the RCCI President Saboor Malik on Monday said,” The seriousness and urgency is required from the government side to make progress on key issues linked with business community”. The country economy is passing through a critical phase and we have high expectations from the FBR to realize the gravity of the situation. A conclusive dialogue between the traders and the government officials can avert the possible call of the country wide traders’ strike, he added. RCCI was ready to play as mediator between traders and government, Saboor remarked. The trade activities in the twin cities have been shrunk and traders are facing multi-faceted challenges to run their businesses, he added. The business community is not against the documentation of economy, however, the harassment on the pretext of revenue collection and documentation must be stopped. FBR and Commerce Ministry must realize the ground realities and should revisit their revenue targets keeping lower projection of GDP growth rate for the next year, he said. The core challenges including high and aggressive revenue targets, double digit inflation, rupee depreciation, high interest rate, lower business activity and overall contraction in the national economy can only be addressed once we have pragmatic approach among the stakeholders, he commented.

Arshad Awan from Rawat Industrial Estate, trade association’s representatives Sheikh Sidique, Chaudhary Iqbal, Naveed Kanwal, , Talha Tauqeer, executive members and members were also present on the occasion.