Islamabad: In response to strong demand from the construction industry on New Year’s Eve, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday extended the fixed tax system by one year until December 31, 2021, to boost economic activity and create jobs.
He announced this after he chaired a review meeting on progress in the construction sector here and called the extension a New Year’s gift for the construction industry. The Prime Minister expressed confidence that this sector is the key to neutralizing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the national economy.
In announcing the package, the prime minister said small homes would be subsidized and the bank would not charge more than 5 and 7 percent per annum for 5 and 10 Marla homes over the next five years. He said the tax exemption period has been extended to June 30, 2021, for those investing in the construction sector to disclose sources of income, while projects that were scheduled to be completed by September 30, 2023, have been extended by one year.
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He explained, “I am pleased to announce that the Federal Revenue Board (FBR) has approved Rs 186 billion projects under the concessions we have awarded in the construction sector. He explained that there are Rs 116 billion projects also in draft form.
According to him, in Punjab, the process of approving projects worth 136 billion rupees is underway. He said: “We believe that the economic activity that will be established in Punjab will amount to about 1,500 billion rupees, which will create 2.5 thousand jobs in Punjab.” The Prime Minister noted that similar projects have been initiated elsewhere, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Baluchistan, and Karachi, while “our biggest achievement in terms of low-cost housing for the salary category is the enactment of foreclosures. Unfortunately, it was accepted late causing a delay in plans. “
“But now it has been approved by the court, and thanks to this, for the first time in Pakistan, banks are financing even low-cost houses.”
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He said the banks have pledged to the government and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to provide Rs 378 billion for construction work by December 2021. The prime minister added that the government has decided to provide subsidies of Rs 30 billion at a low cost. The houses, that is, among the first houses to be built, will be awarded a grant of Rs 3,000 per house to reduce their costs. The money they spent on rent will go towards housing costs, and 300,000 houses will receive a subsidy of 3 lakhs per house.
He said there was a need to formulate new structural plans for cities to stop their spread as agricultural land deteriorates because of it and as a result we would face a major food security challenge in the near future. The prime minister said that new master plans for our cities are being developed and land books are being digitized, as matters abound in land disputes. Thus, by August 2021, land registers in three major cities will be digitized, thus ending land problems.
The prime minister said he was pleased with record sales of cement, and the sale of cement means accelerating construction in Pakistan. He added that like the rest of the world, Pakistan has also been hit hard by the coronavirus, especially in the service sector, but with the opening of the construction industry, Pakistan has been better able to overcome the crisis.
He said: “This is the first government since the 1960s to decide to develop its industry, which will open up economic opportunities and jobs in our country, and we can pay off our loans while providing job opportunities for our young population.”
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