ISLAMABAD: Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said that the country cannot afford undue incentives, a complete plan for right sizing has been prepared, the burden of taxes on manufacturing, services and the salaried class is disproportionate, progress regarding agricultural income tax is welcome, continuously collecting taxes from the salaried class is not the solution to the problem, apart from the salaried class, other sectors will also have to contribute to tax revenue.
He expressed these views while addressing a conference organized by the Pakistan Retail Business Council at a local hotel here on Thursday. He further said that the country’s economy is moving in the right direction, the reduction in policy rates is benefiting the business community and investors, while the government is carrying out fundamental reforms in all sectors of the economy, and tax collections have increased due to the reforms.
He said that the Prime Minister and his team are committed to economic stability, have prepared a complete plan for right sizing, right sizing will be done after looking at all the issues of the institutions, they are making the privatization process more transparent.
Muhammad Aurangzeb said that we are fully aware of our economic goals, we are taking steps to reduce government expenses, all steps will be taken for sustainable economic stability, the country cannot afford unnecessary privileges.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said that apart from the salaried class, other sectors will also have to contribute to tax revenue. He said that the agricultural sector has a large share in the economy but its share in taxes is less, the retail sector has a large share in the economy but its share in taxes is less, strict decisions will be taken in tax evasion.
He said that the affairs of the government cannot be run with continuous tax evasion, sales tax evasion and fake invoices will no longer be acceptable, budget proposals from the business class are being received now.
Muhammad Aurangzeb said that the government has improved foreign exchange reserves, interest rates have continuously decreased, the country’s economy is moving in the right direction, the Prime Minister is active in turning the economy around, the government is not trying to temporarily but for sustainable growth of the economy.
The Finance Minister said that economic reforms are being implemented strictly, the customs system has been reduced from several days to 18 hours, obstacles for customs clearance have been removed, and transformation is being done for innovation in tax reforms.
He further said that right sizing is being done on the reforms of government institutions, right sizing of reforms of government institutions started during the PTI era.
He said that foreign exchange reserves are increasing, currently there is foreign exchange for two months of imports, significant progress has also been made in terms of inflation, the policy rate has been reduced, the Kybor, which had reached 23 percent, has now come down to 11 percent.
The Finance Minister further said that significant progress has also been made in terms of debt and equity, we have a relationship with international credit rating agencies, yesterday we had a good meeting with representatives of the rating agency Fitch, Pakistan’s rating has improved in the past one year and God willing, we will be successful in achieving the single B category this year too.
The Federal Finance Minister said that this will help Pakistan diversify its funding sources and return to international capital markets.
