(MENAFN- IANS) Islamabad, Aug 28 (IANS) Traders associations across Pakistan are observing a complete shutter-down strike on Wednesday against arbitrary taxes and the high electricity tariff imposed by the government.
Protest rallies are being taken out in capital Islamabad and Rawalpindi with the traders demanding reversal of the government's decision and threatening to push the country to a standstill if their demands are not met.
The issue has put the Shehbaz Sharif government in a tight spot as it is looking towards imposing more taxes on the working class and the business community to ensure compliance with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and get the recently-acquired $7 billion bailout package released under its Extended Funding Facility (EFF) programme.
However, the trader associations and opposition parties are in no mood to relent and have slammed the government for putting further pressure on the business community which is already unhappy with its several recent decisions.
"We will not back out," said Ajmal Baloch, president of the All Pakistan Anjuman Tajran.
Kashif Chaudhry, chief of Markazi Anjuman Tajran, mentioned that if the government wants to negotiate and is serious about holding dialogue with businessmen, it should first withdraw the notification of Tajir Dost Scheme.
While the traders and the business community continue with their protests, opposition political parties including Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Awami National Party (ANP) have put their weight behind the business community of the country.
"The government should catch the big fish into the tax net to steer the country out of the financial crisis and get rid of the IMF. The government needs to stop burdening the masses with taxes. Traders will never pay arbitrary taxes," said Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan.
The business community and the traders have threatened the government with an indefinite strike if the notification is not withdrawn immediately.
"Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif admitted that the budget was designed by the IMF, which is extremely embarrassing. The shutter-down strike will prove to be a public referendum against the government's move to burden people with taxes," said one of the members of the traders association.
Meanwhile, the local administration has shut down the bus services and placed containers to stop the protesters from entering the 'red zone' area of Islamabad.
Asserting that the IMF imposed budget has "taken the bread out of people's mouth", JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman termed the government's decision as a "forced directive" by the IMF.
"The country is practically being run on orders of the International financial institutions, including the IMF," he said.
On the other hand, the government maintains that imposition of taxes on the business community is aimed at increasing the tax net as per directives and demands of the IMF.
The government said that it wants to ensure that pre-conditions of the IMF are met and the release of the bailout package takes place.
"The IMF bailout is a lifeline for Pakistan because its approval will open the gateway to many investment plans from other countries also," said economic expert Shahbaz Rana.
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