KARACHI: The Pakistan Business Forum (PBF) urged the traders and shopkeepers to pay their taxes to increase revenue collection and stabilise the cash-strapped country’s economy on a long-term basis.

Talking to media, President PBF, Khawaja Mehboob ur Rehman said Pakistan increased its tax revenue by 29 percent last year, but it was still at 8.8 percent tax-to-GDP.

“This is not sustainable at all. No country is sustainable at this level, so we need to increase it to 15 percent,” he said.

The PBF president said inflation had been reduced to single digits in August and hoped that the State Bank of Pakistan’s policy rate reduction would likely follow it.

He also said Pakistan needs export diversification in the long run as Pakistan’s export base is narrow, relying heavily on textiles and a few other sectors.

Diversifying exports by promoting value-added industries, investing in technology, and enhancing trade relations with emerging markets can help reduce the trade deficit and build foreign exchange reserves.

We need to encourage foreign direct investment (FDI). Attracting FDI is vital for economic growth and reducing dependence on external borrowing. Pakistan needs to improve its investment climate by ensuring political stability, enhancing infrastructure, and streamlining regulatory processes, which are all long-term measures.

On question of SCO summit at Islamabad, he said Pakistan takes centre stage for SCO Summit held in next month in Islamabad.

This is a milestone for Pakistan to host the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) conference in October 2024.

The organization’s importance can be estimated from the fact that it is the largest organization in the world geographically, including 80% of Eurasia and 40% of the world’s population.

If we look at the founding members, Russia and China founded it in 2001, and Pakistan was an observer member from 2005 to 2017 and became a regular member in June 2017.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024