Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders (ICST) on Sunday demanded from government to withdraw With Holding Tax on Banking Transactions in the upcoming budget. The ICST related that ever since the tax imposition, alternate methods of money transfer such as parchi, trade in dollars and parallel currency has been utilized by the local businessman, traders and dealers.

Although, current administration ever since coming into office has imposed taxes amounting to more than a trillion dollars, WHT on banking transactions has received severe criticism from all financial sectors. The ICST also mentioned the determination of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has been plausible but concrete steps need to be taken for removal of these taxes from next budget.

The ICST stated that the liquidity crunch faced by banks was due to imposition of WHT.