Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar here Thursday met leaders of prominent business associations at FBR, exchanging views with them on proposals regarding budget 2015-16. The Minister while welcoming the participants said he wanted to emphasise the fact before the august gathering of top business professionals that Pakistan had been blessed with all the resources by Almighty Allah.
The only need was to work whole-heartedly and dedicatedly for development and prosperity of this country. He said the government had for the last two budgets made it a point to have close interaction with all stake holders including businessmen, traders, chambers of commerce & industries, business associations and others for preparing the budget which was truly reflective of the aspirations of the people.
The Minister on this occasion called upon the top business executives attending the meeting to help the government promote tax culture in the country by encouraging individuals in their own rank and file who were not paying tax, to come forward and contribute to the national exchequer. "The government machinery and institutions on their part would always be making efforts to broaden the tax net, but the business community should also play its due role in pinpointing tax evaders", he said. Without broadening the tax base, economic prosperity would always remain a dream, Dar remarked.
Finance Minister Dar said that fulfilling the energy needs of the country was a major challenge for the government. We are fully focusing on this matter and by December 2017, we hope to add 10,000MW to the national grid. He said complete neglect towards this sector during the last 10-12 years had aggravated the situation "but we shall try to address the issue with concerted efforts".
He said that an amount of Rs 44 billion had been incurred this year and Rs 136 billion would be spent next year on the anti-terror operation and rehabilitation of TDPs. This was a daunting task but the government was determined to keep up its efforts for good of the people, Finance Minister said. The Minister also mentioned about the government's focus on the Income Support Programme and said during the last two budgets the government had increased its allocation from Rs 40 billion to 118 billion and the beneficiaries had reached 4.8 million while the annual stipend stood at Rs 18000 per annum.
The Minister shared with the participants a brief review of the state of national economy. He said negating predictions of all economic pundits two years ago that Pakistan was heading for a default, the PML-N government through sustained economic reforms, had taken the country's economy to a position of stability. This was recognised by all international rating agencies and financial institutions. We now have to consolidate our gains and look for growth, the Minister remarked.-PR
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