Budget on June 9: Expand tax base urgently, PM asks economic team

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has asked the economic team that concrete steps should be taken to increase the revenue by broadening the tax net.

The prime minister chaired a meeting regarding the preparation of the budget for the financial year 2023-24 and the meeting was informed that the budget for the next fiscal year will be presented on June 9, 2023, after approval from the federal cabinet.

The meeting was informed that the Pakistani economy is moving towards financial stability and the financial deficit is continuously decreasing.

The prime minister was briefed on the budget preparations by the economic team. Additionally, a briefing was also given on the revised and next year’s projections of revenue.

FY24 Budget: Rs9.2trn tax collection target expected

The prime minister said that the government is making all possible efforts to reduce the economic difficulties of the common man and directed that all resources should be used to reduce the financial difficulties of the middle and poor classes.

He expressed satisfaction that due to the timely strategy of the government, the prices of urea fertiliser are continuously decreasing, which will not only make the farmers happy, but the country will also move towards self-sufficiency in agricultural products.

The prime minister also expressed happiness over the fact that due to the better economic policies of the government, a current account surplus was achieved in the last two months after many years.

Apart from this, he directed to finalise pension reforms as soon as possible and said that a pension fund should be established by adopting a creative method so as to reduce the burden on the national treasury and make the best welfare of the pensioners possible.

The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar, Federal Minister for Defense Khawaja Asif, Federal Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah, Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Adviser to the Prime Minister Ahad Cheema, Minister of State for Petroleum Mussadik Malik, Special Assistants to the Prime Minister Dr Jahan Zeb Khan were present in the meeting.

Malik Ahmad Khan, Tariq Pasha, Tariq Bajwa, Attaullah Tarar, Member of National Assembly Qaisar Ahmed Sheikh, chairman Federal Board of Revenue and relevant senior government officials also participated.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023