Islamabad, Nov 8: Finance Minister Highlights Digitization as Key Driver for Pakistan’s Economic Growth. The Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, emphasized on Friday that digitizing the economy is essential for fostering economic growth and generating sufficient resources to meet the country’s development demands, thereby reducing reliance on continuous financing.
He made these comments during a meeting with a Veon Group delegation at the Finance Division, as stated in a press release from the finance ministry. The delegation was led by Augie K. Fabela, the founder and chairman of the Board of Veon Group, with Kaan Terzioglu, Group CEO of VEON, Ms. Marine Babayan, Group Director of Corporate Affairs at VEON, and Mr. Aamir Ibrahim, CEO of Jazz, also in attendance.
During the discussion, the Minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to tax reforms aimed at prioritizing people-centered technology and comprehensive digitalization to increase transparency, prevent leakages, and improve services.
He highlighted the importance of employing data analytics to facilitate fact-based discussions instead of confrontations surrounding the Federal Board of Revenue’s initiatives for revenue collection and resource mobilization.
He reported that for the ongoing fiscal year, federal tax revenues have risen by 29 percent, with 600,000 new taxpayers having joined the FBR’s system to date; however, he noted that there is still significant progress to be made in enhancing the tax-to-GDP ratio, which currently sits at 8 to 9 percent, to an acceptable 13.5 percent by the time the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program concludes.
Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb also reiterated the government’s determination to advance its privatization agenda, asserting that anything that can be handled by the private sector should be managed by it to enable it to stimulate the economy and serve as a growth engine. He indicated a genuine interest among international investors and bilateral partners to invest in Pakistan.
Nonetheless, this interest from foreign investors could only be realized through the private sector, which possesses the potential, enthusiasm, and initiative to create viable and attractive projects for collaborative business efforts with international investors.
