Pakistan: Imran Khan to hold protest against policies announced by PM Shehbaz Sharif govt

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced to hold a protest on July 2 at the Parade Ground in Islamabad. Imran Khan has been opposing the fiscal budget 2022-2023 passed by the Pakistan government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to ANI. The protest will be held against the government and its policies and to oppose the 'super tax' imposed by the Shehbaz Sharif-led government. 

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman, Imran Khan, announced that the decisions taken by the Pakistan government will increase pressure on industries and cause further unemployment, ANI cited The News International. Imran Khan in the video said that the nation needs to be clear that there was no action being taken by the government to fix the economy and reduce prices. Imran Khan said that the corporate tax would increase up to 39% due to the super tax in Pakistan. He stressed that the corporate tax in India and Bangladesh was 20% which implied that it would make things expensive. Ex-Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the cost of manufacturing products would be costlier which would affect employment amid the existing economic crisis. 

Imran Khan claimed that the load shedding would impact the country's farmers and production which would result in diesel getting costlier. He said that the government led by PM Shehbaz Sharif was not making efforts to address the issue. The former Pakistan Prime Minister said that the taxation would result in people avoiding taxes and emphasised that his government had collected "record taxes." Imran Khan said that his government had identified the mortgage of people through artificial intelligence and they had planned to include them in the tax net. He informed that they have challenged the amendments that have been made in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) act in the Supreme Court. 

Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif announces imposing super tax 

Earlier on June 24, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that his government plans to impose a 10% super tax on large-scale industries, according to ANI. He stressed that "tough decisions" need to be made for overcoming the country's economic crisis. In a series of tweets, Shehbaz Sharif said that super tax has been imposed on cement, steel, sugar, oil and gas, fertiliser, banking, textile, chemical, beverage, and automobile industries. He stated that the government has taken the decision for "poverty alleviation" and asked the affluent people of Pakistan to fulfil their duty by sharing the burden. In the tweet, he further added, "Let me make two things absolutely clear here. First, it is a direct tax on the income of people & industries falling in certain categories of income. Secondly, the proceeds from this measure will be spent in the most productive of ways for people facing financial constraints." 

(With Inputs from ANI)

Image: Facebook/MianShehbazSharif/ImranKhan