'This will not only support the farmers but also the local tractor and its parts industry to play their due role in the national economy,' said PKI President Khalid Mahmood Khokhar in a statement issued here on Monday.
He said our agriculture sector, being the backbone of Pakistan's economy, contributes approximately 24 percent in GDP of the country. However, presently it is facing a severe blow due to increase in cost of production and decrease in output. This has a highly adverse impact not only on farmers' earnings but also their buying power. Resultantly, tractor sales have declined by 25 percent from 32,500 units (July to Dec 2017) to 24,500 units (July to Dec 2018) which means that over 8,800 people lost their jobs, claimed Khalid Khokhar.
He said tractor industry supports our country's farm mechanisation by providing the lowest priced tractors in the world which have 90 percent locally made parts. Besides this, in a socio-economic overview, tractor industry provides livelihood to over 50,000 families in Pakistan by giving direct and indirect employment opportunities. Moreover, the tractor industry also strengthens the Government exchequer by contributing over Rs10,000 million in direct/indirect taxes every year.
PKI chief stating these figures urged the government to waive off GST on tractors and parts manufacturing industry and claimed that the step would drive the economic recovery and flourish the progress of the country.