Islamabad
The business community of the federal capital has said that they cannot afford closure of businesses for two days a week and urged the government to notify closure of businesses for once a week.
The representatives of different market associations in a meeting chaired by Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI), on Saturday said that they have already suffered huge business losses due to previous lockdowns and restrictions of timings due to the coronavirus pandemic, therefore, it is unaffordable for them to keep businesses close for two days a week.
Addressing the meeting, Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that the governments in many countries have provided significant financial relief to businesses for enabling them to combat the impact of Covid-19 pandemic, but in Pakistan instead of providing relief, businesses are being closed twice a week, which would prove very harmful with detrimental impact on the economy as it would cause permanent closure of a large number of businesses and render thousands of people jobless.
He said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has also been requested multiple times by ICCI to allow tax filers to pay their taxes in instalments or offer taxpayers a —TLTP
