Atif Ikram Sheikh, President of The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), has stressed that FPCCI’s comprehensive Shadow Budget for the fiscal year 2026-27 represents the collective wisdom of the business, industry and trade community of Pakistan.
Mr. Atif Ikram Sheikh highlighted that FPCCI strongly urges the federal government to incorporate its policy recommendations to ensure the upcoming budget is fundamentally driven by the objective of economic growth rather than the customary emphasis on revenue growth and stabilization.
Mr. Atif Ikram Sheikh maintained that adopting a growth-centric approach is the only viable path to mitigating Pakistan’s macroeconomic challenges, reducing the critical expansion in the trade deficit, and providing much-needed relief to an industrial sector currently crippled by surging energy costs and high interest rates.
FPCCI Chief explained that broadening the tax base remains the most critical structural reform required to shift Pakistan away from its chronic reliance on inflationary indirect taxes and the over-taxation of existing corporate sectors. A sustainable expansion of the tax net must move beyond coercive enforcement against registered taxpayers and, instead, focus on bringing new taxpayers into the formal economy through digitization, data integration, and targeted incentives, he added.
Mr. Atif Ikram Sheikh pointed out that total taxes on industrialists are up to 65% when all types of taxes are accounted for – which shall be brought down in the range of 35-40% in the upcoming Federal Budget 2026-27 to enable us to compete in the international market and contribute aggressively to the national economy and export earnings.
Mr. Saquib Fayyaz Magoon, SVP FPCCI, elaborated that by leveraging advanced data analytics to identify high-income non-filers and simplifying and streamlining compliance procedures for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the government can distribute the fiscal burden more equitably.
Mr. Saquib Fayyaz Magoon highlighted that the federal budget must shift its focus from aggressive revenue collection to facilitating a broad-based economic revival. He stated that sustainable growth requires a modern approach, specifically through strategic national investments in emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence and the widespread rollout of 5G technology to make Pakistani industries globally competitive.
Mr. Abdul Mohamin Khan, VP & Regional Chairman, Sindh, FPCCI, pointed out that regional industries are facing unprecedented liquidity constraints. He expressed that a high-interest-rate environment severely restricts the operational capacity of businesses across the province. He urged the Ministry of Finance to incorporate FPCCI’s recommendations, which outline actionable steps to reduce manufacturing costs and create a genuinely business-friendly environment that can spur industrialization and job creation across Sindh and the rest of the country.
The FPCCI leadership unanimously concluded that the proposals outlined in the Shadow Budget offer a pragmatic, industry-backed roadmap. They warned that ignoring these stakeholder-driven recommendations in the finalized Federal Budget would risk further economic stagnation and industrial closures.
