Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday said the federal government was finding it very hard to give relief to the salaried class in the new budget while many state institutions were operating at a loss.
Addressing a small media talk on the second day of Eid Ul Azha from his hometown in Kamalia, he said hospitals and schools may operate on charity but a country’s economy cannot rely on it. He stressed the need for strict enforcement of tax laws and to eventually phase out tax exemptions altogether to reduce the fiscal deficit.
He also highlighted the government’s decision to maintain tax exemptions on fertilizers, seeds, and medicines to support the agricultural sector.
Aurangzeb announced plans to bring all sectors into the tax net, emphasizing the urgent need for end-to-end digitalization at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). He said this would help minimize human interaction, reduce corruption, and increase transparency.
He emphasized expanding the tax net beyond retailers to include various other sectors, stressing that taxation was crucial for the country’s GDP and overall economic health.
He acknowledged the public’s reluctance to engage with the FBR due to harassment and frivolous notices and promised reforms to address such issues.
In response to a query, Finance Minister said agriculture and IT sectors are independent of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and praised freelancers for their contributions while working from home.
Aurangzeb said the government plans to cut federal expenditures to manage the fiscal deficit. He stressed the importance of privatizing loss-making state-owned enterprises (SOEs), with a particular focus on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) which has a Rs. 622 billion liability transferred to the government. Aurangzeb described this situation as unsustainable and called for immediate privatization of all liable SOEs.
The ex-banker also announced the expected outsourcing of Karachi Airport by August as part of the privatization efforts aimed at reducing the fiscal burden on the government. He underscored the government’s focus on leveraging the private sector for national development and urged integrating tech with the agricultural sector.
He further mentioned that the recent visit to China focused on technology transfer to Pakistan rather than seeking additional investments. Visits to Chinese agricultural research universities were also part of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s itinerary during their stay.
The post Relief to Salaried Class Impossible When Govt Institutions Are Operating At A Loss: Aurangzeb appeared first on ProPakistani.
