LAHORE: Towel Manufacturers Association of Pakistan chairman Tahir Jahangir has expressed concern over the pendency of sales tax refunds of exporters.

In a statement issued here on Monday, he said the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) was again dragging its feet on the sales tax refunds as refund vouchers for November were still unpaid as a result of which the exporters were facing shortage of worl(ing capital by about 15 per cent of their monthly turnover.Mr Jahangir accused the FBR of indulging in the practice of withholding sales tax refunds whenever it failed to meet its tax collection target, causing hardship to the exporters and making them hesitant to invest further and expand their export businesses.

He cautioned that if the issue was not resolved at the earliest, the exporters could not remain competitive in the world market.

Mr Jahangir urged Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to pay attention to the issue on an urgent basis and instruct the FBR not to withhold sales tax refunds ofthe exporters.