All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has urged the government to decrease the taxes and Federal Excise Duty (FED) on cement to keep the export industry competitive in global market, besides boosting local consumption.

Spokesman of the APCMA said in a statement that the industry, in its budget proposals, has been demanding the government to abolish the FED as cement is not a luxury item and FED is always placed on items to discourage its usage.

He said that the recent upsurge in consumption of cement is encouraging for the economy as this commodity basically improves the infrastructure and reduces housing deficit in the country, however, the recent increase in federal excise duty (FED) will hurt the local consumption.

He said that upward trend in cement dispatches continued unabated, as the overall dispatches during the first ten months of this fiscal 2017-18 were 38.99 million tons compared with 33.88 million tons of cement dispatched during the same period last year, posting a growth of 15.10 percent.