Over 50% industrial units shut down

Eminent business leaders have expressed grave concern about the closure of over 50% factories in every industrial zone of the country and cautioned that if the government did not take measures on a war-footing, it may turn out to be a disaster for the economy. They have pleaded for the immediate abolition of the two-tier system of taxes-cum-levies as it takes a heavy toll on the formal industrial sector and forces industrialists to halt operations. “Some industrialists show more production in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas because of the widespread misuse of tax exemptions, though they manufacture their products in other areas of the country. Such loopholes must be closed,” an industrialist from Faisalabad said on condition of anonymity.