Finance Minister Ishaq Dar chaired the final session of grand consultation on budget 2014-15 with the business stakeholders at the FBR Auditorium o Saturday. The Finance Minister while addressing the stakeholders of the business community said we believe in consultation and collective wisdom. It is for this reason that we have charted out a detailed programme of sessions with chambers, traders associations, regulators, banks and professional bodies to listen to their proposals which could be incorporated in the forthcoming budget.
He said we are working on a three-year budget strategy for years 2014-17 and we have a clear roadmap to achieve our targets. He added that we have almost completed an exercise in eight meetings to review concessionary regime (SROs) to provide a level playing field for the economy. He said we have set a target of three years for phasing out discriminatory SROs.
The Finance Minister observed that there were revolutionary ideas from the business community and we will consider serious doable proposals in the next financial year. He underlined that transparency, good governance and zero toleration for corruption are the hallmarks of PML-N government in line with the vision of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He added that Pakistan is our own country and we have to join hands to make improvements in the system. Representatives of the traders associations appreciated the consultation process and observed that this is the first time in the history of Pakistan that this level of consultations has been held in preparation of budget. There was a general consensus in the remarks of the trade associations that local manufacturers should be encouraged with the aim to increase value addition and export-led growth. The traders emphasised on employment of measures for documentation of economy. There was also an agreement among the traders that small and medium enterprises in the country should be encouraged.
The Finance Minister in his concluding remarks said that the process of consultation which has been initiated will not terminate with this budget but will be a continuing process and the government will take along the business community in its agenda of reform. He added that we are making our efforts to simplify the taxation system and incentivise taxpayers as compared to tax evaders.-PR
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