LAHORE - The Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan on Saturday said that loadshedding would continue till 2011 in the country while the poor would be provided relief in the forthcoming budget. Babar Awan stated this while talking to reporters after addressing the businessmen here at the Lahore Camber of Commerce and Industry. He further said that Swat operation would continue and there would be no compromise on it. He said that no one would be allowed to challenge the writ of the government. Earlier, speaking at the LCCI, he assured the business community of Lahore that the coming budget would be business-friendly. LCCI President Mian Muzaffar Ali, Senior Vice President Tahir Javaid Malik, Vice President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh and former President Mian Misbahur Rehman also spoke on the occasion. Dr Babar Awan said that all measures were being taken to ensure a business and people-friendly budget. He said that in all the four cabinet meetings took place so far in connection with budget-making, the issues being faced by the business community were discussed threadbare. He said that there was a consensus among all the cabinet members that the hitches and the long-standing issues coming in the way of smooth running of businesses should be taken care of first. The budget would be forward-looking and with a changed vision, he added. He, however, made it clear that the present government was determined to widen the tax net and it had been decided at the highest level that all sectors should be brought into tax net. The Federal Minister, who spent well over two hours with the members of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the present government was competent enough to cope with the challenges being faced by the country and that is why some unpopular decisions could be taken. He urged the LCCI members in general and the office-bearers in particular to help and guide the government in bringing country out of economic mire. He said that now all decisions were being taken by the elected representatives unlike the past when the decisions were taken by the bureaucracy. Your elected representatives are quite alive to all the issues and they are spending their energies to solve them at the earliest. Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI President Mian Muzaffar Ali urged the government to seriously focus on increasing the industrial production and to fully exploit renewable energy resources to put economy back on rails. He said that ongoing year like year 2008 is witnessing a more terrible state of affairs, whether they exist in the shape of terrorism, acute shortfall of electricity, higher energy prices, and an exceptional surge in food inflation or in the form of financial market crisis. He said these developments have had undesirable consequences of differing degrees for economies in different parts of the world and have affected Pakistan the most, both politically as well as economically. He said these external developments have equally played a vital role in stressing Pakistans macro economic imbalances while uncertain security environment has adversely spoiled the performance of the countrys economy. The LCCI President said that in the given scenario, if this alarming situation continues, the wheel of industry, which has already slowed down, would get jammed. Mian Muzaffar Ali said that it was not possible to get maximum productive output from the industry unless a continuous supply of energy is ensured. We understand that there is no immediate solution to overcome the growing energy deficit but at least we can reset our priorities by utilizing our own resources of energy available within the country. Mian Muzaffar Ali said the government also needs to develop a strong liaison with business community and whatever the decisions it takes, must be on permanent basis. The LCCI Senior Vice President Tahir Javaid Malik and Vice President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh invited the attention of the Federal Minister towards the high markup rate and sought his help in bringing it down to single digit. They assured the Federal Minister that the Lahore Chamber of commerce and Industry would continue to guide the government on economic issues.