Finance Minister urges FBR to boost tax revenue collection efforts

By -
Ishaq Dar
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has asked the FBR to enhance its efforts to achieve the true tax potential of the country.

He made the remarks while chairing a meeting in Islamabad to review the performance of the FBR.

Ishaq Dar extended his full support to the FBR in performance of its duties for revenue collection.

As per a statement released by the Ministry of Finance, FBR Chairman Asim Ahmad gave a detailed presentation on the FBR’s revenue targets and performance for the period July 2022 to March,2023.

“It was expressed that FBR will make all out efforts to meet its targets in remaining months of the financial year,” read the statement.

Dar expressed satisfaction with the FBR and extended his full support to help it perform its revenue collection duties while maintaining that the FBR team needs to enhance efforts to unlock the country’s true tax potential.

SAPM on Finance Tariq Bajwa, SAPM on Revenue Tariq Mehmood Pasha, Chairman FBR, and other senior officers from the Finance Division and FBR attended the meeting.

Pakistan, which remains engulfed in various economic challenges, faces a low tax-to-GDP ratio. As per data provided by the country’s Ministry of Finance, Pakistan’s tax-to-GDP ratio dropped by 0.4% in the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal year to 4.4% from 4.8% of the same period last year.

Earlier, it was learnt that the federal tax collecting authority suffered a massive shortfall of Rs304 billion during July-March (2022-23).

It was learnt that Rs5,156 billion has provisionally been collected in the first nine months of the current fiscal year against the assigned target of Rs5,460 billion for July-March (2022-23), reflecting a huge shortfall of Rs304 billion.

Earlier, Dar had said that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have assured the International Monetary (IMF) they will help Pakistan.

The minister said Saudi Arabia had conveyed to the IMF $2 billion financing to Pakistan while the UAE had confirmed support of $1 billion. The Pakistani government had met all the conditionalities of the IMF for the revival of the loan agreement, he added.

He also said that all preconditions for a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) between Pakistan and the IMF have now been implemented.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

At least 11 dead, others injured after train catches fire near Rahim Yar Khan

By Admin -
Image
At least 11 passengers lost their lives and 30 others sustained burn injuries when three carriages of a Tezgam Express caught fire due to explosion in a gas stove, according to initial reports. Meanwhile, firefighters have initiated a rescue operation to extinguish the fire and other passengers are being evacuated from the train to safe places. The affected carriages are being separated from the train. The train, Tezgam, was on its way from Karachi to Rawalpindi, when a gas cylinder carried by a passenger exploded, leaving several dead and injured. The fire was caused by the explosion in a gas cylinder, confirmed the Pakistan Railways official. According to details, the passengers were cooking breakfast when the gas cylinder exploded. After the blast, the raging fire engulfed two other coaches as well. Fire fighters were still extinguishing the fire as per last reports.
Read more

Three soldiers martyred in terrorist attack on checkpost in Balochistan’s Zarghoon

By -
Image
As many as three soldiers embraced martyrdom and one terrorist was killed in an exchange of fire between security forces and terrorists in Zarghun, the area of Balochistan on Saturday. According to the military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), an operation was launched in the area against suspected terrorists who attacked a security post. “Troops on the post retaliated readily to the fire raid thereby, pushing back the terrorists,” stated the military’s media wing. In the ensuing exchange of fire, three soldiers were martyred while one terrorist was also killed. The military identified the martyred soldiers as Sepoy Zaheer Ahmed, Sepoy Mudassir Shaheed and Lance Naik Abdul Qadeer. The ISPR stated that the post had recently been established to “check extortion efforts targeting coal mines in the area”. “Based on follow-up ISR effort, likely hideout of fleeing terrorists has been identified in nearby mountains and a deliberate blocking and sanitisation op...
Read more

Legal process to try May 9 planners, perpetrators under army act begins: COAS

By -
Image
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir has said that the legal process of trial against planners, instigators, abettors and perpetrators involved in the May 9 mayhem has commenced under Pakistan Army Act and Official Secret Act as per existing and established legal procedures derived from the Constitution. The army chief's statement came as he visited Jinnah House and an army installation in Lahore, which were blatantly attacked and vandalised by “politically motivated” rioters, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a handout. The COAS was also given a briefing on events of May 9 dubbed by the military as ‘Black Day’ — the day when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters ransacked and torched military installations across the country following the arrest of their leader Imran Khan in a graft case. Addressing the garrison officers and soldiers at Corps Headquarters, Gen Munir emphasised that any action aimed at widening a gulf between people and the milita...
Read more