Pakistan failed to increase tax collection and exports: Hafeez Shaikh
Pakistan failed to increase tax collection and exports: Hafeez Shaikh
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The governemnt’s Finance Advisor Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has said that Pakistan has failed to increase its tax collection and exports. Last year, tax collection was 17% higher despite difficulties.
Talking about the economic situation of the country to Dunya News program "Dunya Kamran Khan Kay Saath", the finance advisor said that the problems of refunds are being eliminated completely. Last year, refunds of Rs 240 billion were given and next week, refunds of up to Rs 50 million will be given.
Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) would set aside Rs 10 billion for refunds every month. With regards to refunds, the focus will be on private sector as the committee for the refund process will be headed by someone from the private sector.
Answering a question, Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said that reforms in the power sector are the number one priority of the Prime Minister. Today, the Prime Minister has made five major decisions regarding the energy sector, the effects of which will be observed in the coming weeks.
He said that today it has also been decided to improve electricity bills collection and reduce distribution losses. The government has to conclude negotiations with the IPPs in a few days, promote cheap power generation from alternative sources and involve the private sector in power distribution companies, he added.
He said that power sector reforms were a part of the IMF negotiations and there can be no slup-ups in this regard. Shehzad Qasim is responsible for implementing the government’s power sector reforms, he added.
Answering another question, he said that the Karachi steel mills would be run through foreign investment and a system is being devised to run it in a modern manner. He cautioned that the Privatization Commission has to carefully follow the rules and said that after the power sector, the matters of government corporations will be improved.
