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The government plans to cut taxes on the property sector and lure Middle East conflict-affected overseas Pakistanis to bring back their money without fear of harassment, aiming to encash the opportunity to boost the struggling sector, reported Shahbaz Rana of Express Tribune.
Government and market sources told The Express Tribune that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif this week gave the go-ahead to finalise recommendations for rolling out the real estate package; some of these measures can be implemented before the budget.
There are prospects that investors may withdraw their investments from the real estate sector of the Gulf and other countries, and with the right set of policies Pakistan can take advantage of the situation.
Once in-house work is completed, Pakistan will take up the matter with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its endorsement, said government officials.
Following the premier’s green signal, a follow-up meeting was held on Friday to further fine-tune the proposals.
The prime minister has directed authorities to examine the possibility of rationalising taxes on the property sector and finding avenues to attract investment from overseas Pakistanis, said Capt (retd) Mohammad Mehmood, Secretary Ministry of Housing, on Friday.
Real estate sector valuations in the Middle East have also declined significantly over the past month after Iran attacked American bases in the region, which panicked investors and dented confidence.
Last week, the government rolled out a revised housing financing scheme with lower interest rates and a higher loan cap of up to Rs10 million to facilitate buyers. It has now been proposed to give fixed targets to banks for disbursing loans. The government has cut interest rates to as low as 5%.
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