ISLAMABAD, Oct 30 (APP): In addition to other hardships to people, the business activities worth Rs85 would suffer directly if Punjab shuts for one day, Finance Ministry said here Saturday.
People would suffer due to blocked farm to market access and farmers income would suffer while public would have to spend more due to shortage of food, the ministry said.
According to details, on an average, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collects Rs24bn taxes per day out of which approximately Rs10 billion are collected from Punjab.
Likewise, services are 60 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and Punjab’s contribution within services sector is 50 percent. In Rupee term more than Rs42 billion services are produced in one day in the Punjab province.
Similarly, Punjab being the production and consumption hub of the country has more than 60 percent share in external trade and if this province shuts down for a day, more than Rs28 billion trade would suffer.
It said, exports to Europe only were approximately $9bn, which is 38% of country’s total exports.
It said, Punjab is also known for Manufacturing as it has more than 50% share in total manufacturing. On an average Punjab factories produce more than Rs13 billion rupees goods.
Imran Munir, an engineer by profession, said the government is taking positive steps to remove Pakistan from the FATF grey list and these types of activities badly damage the cause of Pakistan internationally.
All the business activities are badly affected due to Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) long march.
They should sit and talk to the government to find the solution in the public interest, he added.
