ISLAMABAD:
Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Wednesday called for sweeping economic reforms, including tax breaks for employees, lower prices of electricity, gas and fuel, and termination of costly independent power generation (IPP) and regasification agreements.
Addressing a seminar titled ‘Budget, Economy and Energy: From Crisis to Solutions’ in Islamabad, attended by economists, energy experts, tax experts and senior journalists, he urged the government to use the upcoming budget to provide immediate relief to the middle class and ensure stable prices for public services for years to come.
Naeem proposed abolishing income tax on monthly salaries up to Rs 125,000 and reducing tax rates by 50 per cent for higher income groups of earners. He also called for reductions in electricity and gas tariffs and demanded that petrol prices be reduced to Rs 230 per litre.
Criticizing the country’s tax structure, he said ordinary citizens bear the bulk of the tax burden through direct and indirect taxation. According to him, the salaried class contributes 605 billion rupees in income tax every year, while consumers continue to pay heavy taxes on oil and utilities.
“The government is crushing the common man by paying around Rs 2,000 billion annually to IPP owners,” he said, adding that costly power contracts have become a major burden on the national economy.
He called for a thorough audit of IPP deals, saying it would reveal major irregularities involving current and former executives. Rehman also criticized regasification contracts, saying payments continued even when gas supplies remained suspended.
Warning against plans to enter into additional power purchase agreements, he said Jamaat-e-Islami would oppose any attempt to sign new contracts for 26,000 megawatts of power generation.
The JI chief also demanded immediate start of work on the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, increased spending on education, stronger local governments, taxation of big landowners and greater support for small farmers.
He exposed widespread corruption within the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), saying poverty levels had increased despite years of spending under the initiative. He further called for increasing the education budget from the current level of 1.7 percent of GDP to at least 4 to 5 percent.
Expressing concern over the education crisis in the country, Naeem said nearly 27.5 million children are out of school across the country, including around 10 million in Punjab.
Responding to journalists’ questions, he criticized the government’s privatization policy and reiterated Jamaat-e-Islami’s opposition to the sale of public institutions. He said the party had prepared a comprehensive policy document outlining alternatives to privatization.
He also called for reforms to the pension system and said all state institutions, including the justice and military systems, should be held to the same standards of accountability. While opposing defense spending cuts, he suggested reviewing administrative spending as part of the military budget.
Naeem said Jamaat-e-Islami’s economic agenda includes eliminating interest-based financing, strengthening the zakat system, investing in education and promoting vocational training of youth. He said only a people-centric economic model could help Pakistan overcome its recurring fiscal and energy challenges.
