The government should maintain the exemption, according to the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), which has condemned the installation of a 10 percent GST, describing it as “disastrous for the survival of the already crisis-ridden print media.”
The newspaper sector has already been affected by increasing production costs resulting from the depreciation of the rupee, as stated by APNS President Nazafreen Saigol Lakhani and Secretary Sarmad Ali in their rapid response to the Federal Budget 2024–25 that was presented in the National Assembly on Wednesday.
In a united statement, they stated that “the imposition of GST on newsprint imported by the newspaper industry would be disastrous for the survival of the already-riddled print media.”
They pointed out that the Pakistani rupee’s extraordinary depreciation has dramatically increased production costs, and all of the commodities utilized by newspapers are imported. Consequently, newspaper cover prices have gone up, which has negatively impacted circulation.They went on to say that the financial burden has been made worse by the failure of the federal and local governments to pay long-overdue bills.
The newspaper sector, according to APNS office-bearers, had anticipated relief measures, such as a 35 percent boost in the prices for past-due government advertisements. However, GST was imposed in the budget instead.
The nation is served by the print media, which stands as the fourth pillar of the state and defends people’s freedom of expression and knowledge. In light of this, the government must promote information access, particularly during this period of false and misleading information, the statement stated, calling on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to remove the GST from newsprint.
