LAHORE: Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar says the PTIled federal government quickly resolved the issue of gas tariff among the provinces within the shortest span of time, providing a level-playing field to the industry across the country.

`The disparity in gas prices among the provinces was a major issue the PTI inherited from the outgoing PML-N government. So we took up the issue on a top priority and implemented uniform gas price across the country,` the governorsaid while speaking here at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday.

He said the uniform gas prices would be beneficial for the business community and would help enhance exports.

Talking about trade imbalance, he said the total imports and exports ($58 billion and $20bn respectively) were due to faulty policies of the previous government. `Exports of pharmaceutical came down to $200 million from $400m. So our country cannot be economically stable without boosting exports.

He said though the GSP plus was a difficult task, it was achieved suc-cessfully for the country. Under the GSP Plus status, the governor said, exports of textile to the Euro zone increased by 47 per cent which had added $3bn to the exports Egures but benefits achieved from GSP Plus facility are far less than the potential.

Speaking on the occasion, LCCI Senior Vice President Khwaja Khawar Rasheed said withholding tax on banl(ing transactions was unjustified and should be withdrawn immediately. He said taxation system should be restructured because the government is burdening those 0.8m people who are already in tax net.