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ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf yesterday defended the government's drive to expand the tax base as traders continued a nationwide strike for a second day. Markets presented a deserted look amid the near total countrywide business shutdown over the government's plans to impose a general sales tax on retail trade and conduct a survey to unearth untaxed incomes, witnesses said. "They have no right to go on strike or close their shops," Musharraf said, speaking to an audience at the commissioning of an expansion project of an oil refinery in Rawalpindi near here. He said the government was asking the rich and not the poor to pay taxes on their income for the development of the country. "I am not much worried (by the strike). We all will work in the interest of the country and they (traders) will come along (with) us. This is how Pakistan will progress," he said. The trading community launched the three-day strike on Friday in the wake of a failure of talks with the government and the death of a trader last week in the custody of tax authorities in the city of Faisalbad. The tax drive is considered crucial to Pakistan's efforts to reduce its crucial fiscal deficit in line with the wishes of the International Monetary Fund, which has linked fresh loans to the implementation of reforms. Influential Daily Dawn, quoting official sources, said Musharraf, who took power in a military coup in October last year, would announce new economic reform measures next week. The package will include proposals to levy GST and a tax on agricultural incomes, it said. A comprehensive tax survey is expected to get under way on May 27 after Musharraf's address. The government is due to present in early June the national budget for the new fiscal year starting from July. Pakistan is seeking a three-year $2.5 billion credit line from the IMF for poverty alleviation and an economic growth program. |
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