ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance, Shaukat Tarin Friday held a meeting with a delegation of exporters and assured them of swift payments to their refunds.
The meeting presided over by the Finance Minister was attended by Minister for Industries and Production, Khusro Bakhtyar, Federal Minister for National Food Security & Research, Fakhar Imam, Advisor to the PM on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, SAPM on Finance and Revenue, Dr Waqar Masood, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqar, Chairman FBR, Secretary Petroleum, Secretary Commerce and other senior officers participated in the meeting.
Tarin directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) that refunds requiring provincial government’s verification must be given on an interim basis subject to future adjustments.
He constituted a sub-committee comprising of representatives from the Ministry of Commerce, FBR and the SBP to sort out such matters at an accelerated pace. The underlying rationale is to ensure timely payments for exporters amid cash flow crunch.
The first session of the meeting was chaired by the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood. In his opening remarks, the Advisor on Commerce welcomed the representatives of exporters and commended their role for putting exports on high growth trajectory during testing times due to coronavirus pandemic. He affirmed full support and facilitation to resolve liquidity crisis faced by the exporters.
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Tarin urged the exporters to adopt a forward looking approach for enhancing export earnings to reduce trade deficit. He directed to find a win-win situation with reference to protracted issues for taking our value-added exports to the next level. He emphasised the need for robust and sustained growth in exports on immediate basis.
The Finance Minister also appreciated the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Industries and Production and the State Bank of Pakistan for their outstanding support and timely interventions for the small and medium industries amid COVID-19.
While responding to the exporters concerns related to the current energy requirements, the Finance Minister stressed the need for load management by switching to alternate fuel options during peak demand period.
He directed to form a working group comprising of representatives from respective utility organizations for a prompt action to fulfil energy requirements on real-time basis, in respective areas.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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