ISLAMABAD:
Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Wednesday called for sweeping economic reforms, including tax cuts for wage earners, lower electricity, gas and fuel prices and termination of expensive independent power producer (IPP) and regasification contracts.
Addressing a seminar titled “Budget, Economy and Energy: From Crisis to Solutions” in Islamabad attended by economists, energy experts, tax specialists and senior journalists, he urged the government to use the upcoming budget to provide immediate relief to the middle class and ensure stable utility prices in the coming years.
Naeem suggested abolishing income tax on monthly salaries up to Rs 125,000 and reducing tax rates by 50 percent for higher income earner groups. He also called for cuts in electricity and gas prices and demanded that petrol prices be reduced to Rs 230. per litre.
He criticized the country’s tax structure, saying that ordinary citizens bear the brunt of the tax burden through direct and indirect taxation. According to him, the salaried class contributes Rs 605 billion annually in income tax, while consumers continue to pay heavy oil taxes and utility taxes.
“The government is squeezing the common man while paying around Rs 2 trillion annually to IPP owners,” he said, adding that expensive energy contracts have become a major burden on the national economy.
He called for a forensic audit of IPP agreements, claiming it would expose major irregularities involving current and former rulers. Rehman also criticized regasification contracts, claiming that payments continued even when gas supplies remained suspended.
He warned against plans to enter into additional power purchase agreements and said Jamaat-e-Islami would oppose any move to sign new contracts for 26,000 megawatts of power generation.
The JI chief also demanded the immediate start of work on the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, increased spending on education, stronger local governments, taxation of large landowners and greater support for small farmers.
He alleged widespread corruption in the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) and claimed that poverty levels had increased despite years of spending under the initiative. He further called for increasing the education budget from the current 1.7 percent of GDP to at least 4 to 5 percent.
Expressing concern over the country’s education crisis, Naeem said nearly 27.5 million children are out of school nationwide, including about 10 million in Punjab.
Responding to questions from journalists, he criticized the government’s privatization policy and reiterated Jamaat-e-Islami’s opposition to the sale of state-owned institutions. He said the party had produced a comprehensive policy paper outlining alternatives to privatisation.
He also called for reforms to the pension system and said all state institutions, including the judiciary and the military, should be held to the same standards of accountability. While he opposed defense spending cuts, he proposed a review of administrative spending within 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 for youth. He maintained that only a people-centric economic model could help Pakistan overcome its recurring fiscal and energy challenges.
