ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday expressed the hope that tax collection would increase as the government has been trying to restore people’s confidence that “their tax would be spent on them” and not on government protocol and foreign trips.

Speaking as chief guest at the launch of Pakistan's first environment-friendly electric bike Thursday, the premier stated that one of the reasons of low tax collection was trust deficit of the people in governments.

People are not paying taxes due to trust whether the government would use their tax money properly or not, he said, adding the government has been trying to restore people’s confidence by reducing government expenditure on various heads.

He said that expenditures of the Prime Minister’s Secretariat and the Prime Minister’s Office as well as on protocol and foreign trips were slashed considerably during the last three years.

The government has reduced Prime Minister’s Office and Prime Minister’s Secretariat expenditure by Rs108 crores during the last three years, he said, adding that the government has begun expenditure cutting from itself to show to the taxpayers that how much it (the government) values their tax money.

We are trying to restore people’s trust that “their tax would be spent on them” and not on the protocol and luxury of the government, he added, while expressing the optimism that as people’s confidence would restore in the government, tax collection would also increase.

He also underlined the importance of long-term plan and cited the example of China, and stated that in the absence of long-term plan, election-specific decisions are taken.

The prime minister said that manufacturing of electric bikes is a futuristic and positive step, and part of the government’s clean and green policy.

The prime minister said that there is a need to manufacture electric buses, vehicles, and motorcycles to address the issue of pollution.

The prime minister regretted that pollution level has reached at a dangerous level in the country.

The prime minister said that there is another benefit of introducing electric vehicles as it would lessen import bill.

He said that the government has been undertaking 10 billion Tsunami Trees project, constructing national parks and preparing master plans for cities to deal with the problems of water etc.

We have to plan the measures that are to be taken to ensure clean air and water in the country; he said adding that Pakistan unfortunately has very little tree cover.

The premier further stated that the country has to export more good for wealth creation and must ensure that all the parts of motorcycle are manufactured in the country.

He said the local production of products is critical to lessen dependence on import and to increase exports as this is the only way to deal with the issue of balance of payment.

The prime minister said that the economy has started growing but the current account deficit, if increases, would hamper the growth, so there is a need that all those measures would be taken to increase the exports and wealth creation.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021