Latest news with #AsifIqbal
Business Recorder
22-05-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
SPDC flags concerns as tobacco sector seeks tax relief in budget
LAHORE: The tobacco industry has called on the government to introduce a third tax tier and lower Federal Excise Duty (FED) in the upcoming budget, raising alarms among economists and public health experts about the potential impact on tax compliance and health policy. As budget consultations continue, the industry has proposed a reduced FED of PKR 3,800 per 1,000 cigarette sticks—down from the current PKR 5,050—and the creation of a new tier with a lower rate of PKR 2,525 per 1,000 sticks. The demands have surfaced amid criticism of the sector's tax practices. During a roundtable discussion hosted by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Asif Iqbal of the Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC) alleged that leading tobacco firms have manipulated production data to influence taxation policy. Iqbal noted that although cigarette production increased by 19.2% during 2023–24, revenue from FED saw a decline of 2.4%, while GST collection dropped 26.1%, pointing to a worrying mismatch between declared production and tax receipts. He further stated that while nine tobacco companies are enrolled in the government's track and trace system, only three—accounting for 60% of the market—have implemented it using automated processes. This loophole, he said, allows underreporting and weakens tax monitoring efforts. Experts have warned that acquiescing to these proposals could let the tobacco sector gain additional revenues of PKR 10–20 billion, at the cost of a significantly higher health burden for the country, potentially ten times greater than the revenue benefit. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
13-05-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
‘Tobacco industry seeks tax cut amid rising health burden'
LAHORE: The government is learnt to have faced mounting pressure from the tobacco industry to concede to demands that could potentially reverse years of progress in tobacco control. Cigarette manufacturers have ramped up lobbying efforts in recent weeks, seeking sweeping tax relaxations. Among the most concerning proposals is the introduction of a third-tier category of ultra-low-cost cigarette brands — a move seen by public health experts as a deliberate strategy to flood the market with cheaper tobacco products. The industry is pushing for a drastic cut in the current federal excise duty from Rs 5,050 to Rs 2,525 per 1,000 sticks for this new tier, sources said. In addition, manufacturers are reportedly lobbying for a reduction in taxes on existing cigarette brands from Rs 5,050 to Rs 3,800 per 1,000 sticks — a step that would substantially lower retail prices, make cigarettes more accessible, and potentially increase the number of smokers across the country, the sources added. 'The industry's focus, for now, appears to be more on reducing taxes across the board rather than introducing the third tier immediately,' said one source familiar with the ongoing lobbying. Public health advocates have raised alarms that if such proposals are approved — particularly with IMF endorsement — it could cast serious doubts over the Fund's commitment to Pakistan's long-term health goals. Commenting on the issue, Asif Iqbal, Managing Director at the Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC), warned of grave consequences. 'Pakistan has around 31 million adult tobacco users, including 17.3 million cigarette smokers. Tobacco use claims over 160,000 lives annually while draining 1.6% of the country's GDP,' he said. 'If the government, with IMF approval, agrees to these regressive tax cuts, it would likely increase smoking prevalence, escalate the national death toll, and substantially raise healthcare spending. The ultimate burden will fall on the national exchequer,' Iqbal cautioned. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Hindustan Times
03-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Justifying caste killings in the name of family honour
You might just miss it tucked away inside your newspaper. A few paragraphs that don't even begin to tell the story. The one of love, and dying for it. The one where choosing a partner is not just a radical act but also life-threatening. The serious-looking bearded man, HM, tells me that he is a 'survivor' of a painfully familiar tale. Falls in love with the 'wrong' sort, as in wrong caste. There's another complication: She had been married off as a child, so, for her to fall in love as an adult with somebody else becomes a question of family honour; an honour vested in her and dependent on her toeing the line. HM from Jaipur is telling me about the whispered phone calls. The restrictions on her movements. The threats. The physical abuse from her family pressuring her to fulfil the terms of an illegal marriage. And then he learned she had died. Her family said by suicide. No police complaint was ever filed. No case registered. That was in 2018. I met HM at a consultation on honour killings — the inappropriately named term for the murder of young people by their parents for marrying against caste and faith. Organised by Dhanak of Humanity, a non-profit founded in 2004 by Asif Iqbal to help interfaith and inter-caste couples, the consultation coincides with a Supreme Court ruling earlier this week that confirmed the conviction of 11 people in the horrific 2003 Kannagi-Murugesan double murder where a Dalit man and Vanniyar woman in Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu were killed in public for their crime of falling in love. 'At the root of this crime is the deeply entrenched hierarchical caste system in India, and ironically, this most dishonourable act goes by the name of honour-killing,' the court noted. In 2022, the National Crime Records Bureau reported 18 such killings. That number, say activists, is a massive underestimation as killings are often passed off as suicides or illnesses. When the father or brother is complicit, families are loath to report. And even when cases are reported, conviction is a problem with witnesses turning hostile. 'This is a crime where the whole community colludes to cover up,' a police officer in Hisar told me in June last year. This week alone, two cases made it to the papers. One in Amreli, Gujarat, where the father of a Muslim woman strangled her after she fell in love with a Hindu man and refused to marry the man her father had picked for her. The second is in Jalgaon, Maharashtra where a retired CRPF officer shot dead his daughter and injured her husband. Two years had passed since their marriage, but the father had not been placated because his son-in-law wasn't as educated as his daughter. Controlling the autonomy of adult daughters in the name of protecting them remains a concern of recent state laws that make it virtually impossible for interfaith couples to marry by conversion. Modern India's first uniform civil code has a clause that mandates registration by couples who cohabit. In the name of protection, the Maharashtra assembly in December 2022 set up a committee to track interfaith and inter-caste marriages. 'Women are not seen as autonomous human beings,' senior advocate Vrinda Grover said at the consultation . 'Yet, they carry the honour of the family, the community, the nation.' The Supreme Court has, in the past, come out strongly against such killings with a slew of guidelines including safe houses in every district — a directive that only Haryana has followed. Maybe a modern society needs to revisit Periyar EV Ramasamy's 1925 advocacy of a 'self-respect marriage'. It was conducted without rituals, premised on the idea of equality and dignity. Above all, freedom for young people to love as they wish. Namita Bhandare writes on gender. The views expressed are personal
Business Recorder
01-05-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Tobacco use claims over 160,000 lives every year: SPDC
LAHORE: Under pressure from the tobacco industry, the government is considering a rollback in the very policy that brought Pakistan's tobacco control efforts some long-overdue success. Cigarette manufacturers have lobbied for a reduction in the Federal Excise Duty (FED) and have proposed introducing third-tier, ultra-low-cost cigarette brands in Pakistan, a strategy designed to flood the market with cheaper cigarettes. If gets approval, this move would increase cigarette affordability, particularly for young and low-income consumers, erasing the health and revenue gains made over the past year. As per sources, these proposals are reportedly being pitched to the IMF, and if the IMF approves this rollback, it will cast serious doubt on its commitment to Pakistan's long-term health goals. This situation urgently demands the IMF's immediate intervention to ensure that short-term economic considerations do not jeopardize Pakistan's public health future, the sources added. The government seems unsettlingly comfortable enabling an industry that causes over 160,000 deaths annually. While countries globally are tightening tobacco control through higher taxes, Pakistan appears to be moving in reverse. In the Philippines, a sharp rise in excise duties under the Sin Tax Reform led to a 51% drop in per capita cigarette consumption—from 53.6 packs in 2010 to just 26.3 in 2022. Crucially, half of the revenue from these taxes is allocated to healthcare, turning a public health threat into a funding source for treatment and prevention, the sources added. In contrast, Pakistan is considering a tax cut despite already having some of the cheapest cigarette prices in the region. By moving further away from the WHO's recommendation that 70% of a cigarette's price should be tax, Pakistan risks higher consumption, a greater health burden, and a more overstretched healthcare system. Lowering taxes would make cigarettes more accessible to youth and vulnerable groups, increasing smoking rates and worsening Pakistan's healthcare crisis, the sources said. "Pakistan has around 31 million adult tobacco users, including 17.3 million cigarette smokers, and tobacco use claims over 160,000 lives every year while draining 1.6% of the country's GDP," said Asif Iqbal, Managing Director at Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC). He said, "A potential rolling back the FED at this juncture would be a critical error. It would shift the economic burden onto other sectors, and undo years of hard-won progress in public health. Approval of any such proposal would reflect a policy stance in Pakistan favouring vested interests at the expense of public welfare." Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
25-04-2025
- Health
- Business Recorder
SPDC highlights worsening tobacco epidemic
LAHORE: The Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC), a policy research institute has expressed serious concerns over the country's worsening tobacco epidemic, a crisis that continues to claim lives, burden the economy, and threaten the nation's future. Each year, Pakistan suffers the loss of approximately 163,000 lives due to tobacco-related diseases. The economic impact is equally alarming, with tobacco-related health costs now exceeding $6 billion annually, SPDC said, adding: 'This staggering loss is almost 9 times higher than the second tranche of $700 million under the 2024 IMF Stand-by Arrangement, revealing the scale at which tobacco consumption is draining national resources — quietly, but consistently.' As per data, nearly one in every five adults in Pakistan uses tobacco in some form, with the number of tobacco users estimated at over 30 million, including 17 million smokers. Even more concerning is the rising number of young smokers, with more than 1,200 children aged 10–14 reportedly taking up smoking each day. This is a national emergency that demands sustained attention and policy action. The tobacco industry's ability to keep prices low and ensure widespread availability, especially in low-income communities and near schools, has fuelled the growth of this epidemic, experts said. Speaking on behalf of SPDC, Asif Iqbal, Managing Director for SPDC, stated, 'Tobacco use is not just a personal health risk — it is a national development crisis. Every cigarette smoked chips away at our economic productivity, pushes families into poverty through health care costs, and shortens lives that could have contributed in some way to our society. The idea that cigarettes remain affordable while we lose thousands of lives each year is both tragic and unacceptable. Pakistan cannot afford the cost of inaction.' Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
