Finance Minister Ishaq Dar Saturday said that the ruling PML-N government will continue with the 'expand the tax net' initiative and there will be no room for any segment to avoid taxes. Addressing a pre-budget seminar, Ishaq Dar said the country's economy was put on positive trajectory as a result of reforms introduced by the PML-N government in different sectors.
The minister said that tax revenue collection witnessed an increase of 56 percent in the last three years, adding that in 2013-14, revenue collection stood at Rs 1,900 billion which is expected to reach Rs 3,100 billion by the end of current financial year. He said that "fiscal deficit, which stood at 8.8 percent of the GDP in 2013, was brought down to 4.3 percent this year. Land will be shrunk for the people not coming under tax system. Non-filers will have to pay withholding tax on banking transactions." He added that a number of measures were taken during these years to expand tax net.
He said the remittances registered an increase of 17 percent over the last few years as they were $13.9 billion in 2013 and were expected to touch the mark of $19 billion this year. Dar stated that the country's economy should not suffer as a result of political differences and suggested that Pakistan needs a Charter of Economy on the lines of Charter of Democracy (CoD).
Dar said that political parties of the country need to work on a concrete strategy in connection with economy and the political rivals need to sit together and come up with a plan instead of raising mere slogans. He further said that if all the political adversaries work together, the country's economic growth rate (GDP) can reach 8 percent. Dar said that it is the responsibility of provinces to investment in various sectors, adding that the incumbent government, by putting the country on the track of economic development, proved wrong all those who kept claiming that the country's economy could not be revived.
The minister said that investigation against those influential persons involved in loan waiving should also be started. "Those who tell lies on big forums should be ashamed of themselves," he said, adding that the discretionary funds of the Prime Minister worth Rs 42 billion per annum and federal ministers worth multiple billions were curtailed.
The minister said that a new trade policy was announced to bring improvement in exports. He vowed that circular debt would be cleared by July this year. Replying to a question, he said that the government will try to provide maximum relief to the masses in upcoming budget. He said it was because of micro-economic stability that China started the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with Pakistan worth $46 billion dollars.
He said Pakistan had the potential to become world leader and many other countries including Italy, Qatar and Saudi Arabia were looking towards investing in the country. Dar said that the government would focus on enhancing the growth rate in the remaining term. Ishaq Dar said that power projects of 25 to 26 thousand megawatts of electricity were in various stages of implementation to meet long-term requirements of the country. He said that 10,000 megawatt of electricity would be added to the national grid by March 2018.
He said the government was pursuing a policy of three Es, including economy, energy and extremism, to build strong foundations for national progress and development. Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Asad Umar said that his party is willing to cooperate with the government on the issue of basic reforms with respect to tax collection system. He also proposed that institutions involved in tax collection and reforms need to function without any external influence if the revenue generation is to be increased. He further said that tough decisions need to be taken if further burden is not to place upon the country's economy that is already stuck in swamp.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Special Assistant Haroon Akhtar stated that the people should be provided relief in the budget. Economic expert Dr Ashfaq Hussain also suggested that in order to increase revenues, employment opportunities in the country should be increased along with making institutions responsible for tax collection as autonomous. Economic expert Saqib Sherani said the government is not paying importance to basic sectors including health and education.