Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said the government will not allow any political or bureaucratic interference in its drive to curb smuggling, corruption, power theft and tax evasion in the country.

“No political and bureaucratic influence will be allowed to interfere in this major surgery which we have to undertake collectively for the good of Pakistan and its 250 million people,” the prime minister said while chairing a meeting on the anti-smuggling drive.

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He said it was important to understand the real challenges of the country and then immediately fix them to revive and stabilise the economy.

For this, he said all stakeholders including the provinces, institutions, and armed forces will have to collaborate with the federal government to tackle one of the most important challenges of revival of the economy.

Prime Minister Shehbaz said illegal trade and smuggling were the biggest challenges that had badly dented the country’s economy.

He recalled that in 2022, the coalition government allowed export of 250,000 tons of sugar, but it had to withdraw its decision “because we were told that the surplus target was not up to that level”. However, he said the same amount of sugar was later exported to Afghanistan.

Similarly, the prime minister pointed out that the country had to face losses of around Rs400 to Rs500 billion annually in terms of power theft, whereas leakages, transmission losses and line losses of electricity were other than that.

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As regards to tax revenues, he said the government’s target this year was Rs9 trillion. However, it has the potential to collect Rs4 trillion in extra revenues by streamlining the tax system and curbing corruption and tax evasion.

He said a tax amount of Rs2.7 trillion was still under litigation either in tribunals or in appellant courts. The government, he said, would try its best to recover this amount.

Appreciating the efforts of the Chief of Army Staff in curbing smuggling and power theft, the prime minister said during the nine months of interim government, an amount of Rs58 billion was saved in the power sector.

Similarly, a significant improvement was witnessed in smuggling in the country due to the commitment, will to do, and cooperation of all provinces, and the personal commitment and interest of the Chief of Army Staff, the prime minister added.

Besides taking reforms in certain sectors, he said the government was also committed to promoting the industry and agriculture sector in the country.

He informed that the government had chalked out a plan to fully digitize the system of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to boost the tax revenues in the country.

He said the well-reputed and honest officers will be encouraged while the corrupt element will be discouraged.

As regards law and order situation, the prime minister said the government was determined to foil the evil designs of the enemy.