Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman has strongly criticised the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL), claiming that the government is effectively announcing a new “budget” every week through changes in petroleum prices. Speaking to the media, he said, “People talk about budget; the budget is being announced daily in Pakistan with the announcement of petroleum prices every week.”
The JI leader argued that money collected under the Petroleum Development Levy is imposing an additional burden on the public. “In the name of the PDL, a tax is being collected, which is not even a tax. It is an annual 1300 billion rupees ‘corruption’ which is not being collected by the FBR”, he said. “The PDL means boosting the capacity of the refineries,” he added.
Hafiz Naeem claimed that since the levy was introduced, a total of Rs8.066 trillion has been collected from the public. He noted that the levy has been in place since 2001 and successive governments have continued to collect it. The JI chief also hinted at launching a protest movement against the levy. “We are consulting over a wheel jam and a protest strike. We will take a decision if the government abolishes this levy”, he stated.
Criticising the economic situation, he said many families are struggling to meet basic expenses. “Here people could not pay school fees for their children, while they are talking in Gilgit Baltistan about how the region will become like Lahore or Karachi,” Hafiz Naeem remarked. He called on the government to provide long-term stability by fixing petroleum, electricity, and gas prices for at least three years.
He also voiced concerns over the tax burden on salaried individuals. “The salaried class pays tax on everything, yet money is still deducted from their salaries”, he lamented. Hafiz Naeem further demanded income tax relief for individuals earning up to Rs125,000 per month and warned that imposing additional taxes could have serious consequences for both the economy and the public. He maintained that increasing the tax burden further would be harmful to economic growth and living standards.
