Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain said on Friday that the people are suffering from runaway inflation and heavy taxes, which should be given relief as soon as possible. Apart from these problems, the salaried class also faces other problems that need to be solved; otherwise, the country will suffer further social and economic losses, he said.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that expenses are continuously increasing while salaries are not increasing accordingly, so it is difficult for many to work in government and private institutions where working was once considered an honour.

Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that the expenses of the employees are not being met because of low salaries, which they are worried will affect their performance and damage the businesses they work for.

Mian Zahid Hussain further said that the employees who have alternatives available are leaving their jobs and turning to agriculture and the property sector, which is affecting government institutions and private companies, and those who have no option are left to face the problems.

Those earning a salary of half a million now have to pay 18 per cent tax, while one million salary earners have to pay more than 26 per cent tax. In contrast, those getting salaries in the thousands have to take out loans or sell household goods for essential expenses.

The business leader noted that people must also pay 16 to 18 per cent sales tax, a petroleum levy, and a heavy tax on everything, including electricity, gas, and mobiles.

Besides, people must pay fees for private schools, hospitals, private security, private transport, and sad water. Those paying taxes get nothing in return, and subsidies worth billions are given to those who do not pay taxes. He observed that the elite is saving four thousand billion rupees in taxes and is getting annual benefits worth billions of rupees.

More than 23 million children do not go to school, and 40 per cent suffer from malnutrition, but the government’s expenditure is increasing. Due to these conditions, besides the workers, experts are also trying to find jobs abroad in search of a better future. In these circumstances, the government should immediately privatize the failed government institutions and get rid of the losses of trillions of rupees.