Pakistan: APCMA calls for reduced taxes on domestic cement

All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has asked the government to support the industry by placing anti-dumping duty on the Iranian cement and reducing taxes to make the cement more affordable for consumers, increasing the commodity's demand and the need for more capacity.

The APCMA spokesperson said on Saturday that the domestic industry needed government’s support.
He was of the view that in the current scenario, the suggestion given by some people that the import duty be abolished would hit the national kitty and industry both.

"If the government is interested in reducing the cement rates then it should reduce the levies on domestic production," he proposed.

He pointed out the need for cutting down duties and taxes to bring down the prices and facilitate consumers. This would also help industry to grow as it was playing a vital role in the development of the country, he added.

“In the last fiscal budget, the government had increased taxes on cement from PKR600 (US$8.80) to  PKR1000 (US$14.60) along with sales tax of 17 per cent, while industry previously paid PKR2492/t (US$36.50). Now this difference in tax increase will augment government revenue further to around PKR3250/t,” APCMA spokesperson said, and added, “The industry had paid approximately PKR83bn in 2015-16, and is amongst the highest contributors to the national exchequer since it pays PKR189bn in taxes.”