Islamabad, Dec 7: Muhammad Aurangzeb, the federal minister of finance and revenue, stated on Saturday that previous investment was excellent and that new investment was pouring into the nation. According to him, the nation’s economy was headed in the right direction.
The Finance Minister told reporters following a meeting with the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) that they discussed the agenda for privatization, taxation, energy, SOEs, and structural changes and that they needed to work with current investors.
Importantly, Aurangzeb stated that the administration will only offer policy consistency and structure. He said that these businesses will support the government through joint ventures and SOE privatization. He suggested that private sector projects include an export component.
The minister claimed that the nation’s import-driven economy was the cause of its balance of payments issues. “If we have to put an end to the boom and bust cycle and move the economy toward four, five, or six percent growth,” he believed. Growth must be driven by exports.
According to him, all of this nation’s entities ought to support exports. He said that there were markets for goods that were “Made in Pakistan.” In the wake of the SBP Investors Confidence Report, he stated, they could not afford to remain complacent.
Adding that SOEs had lost Rs6 trillion over the previous ten years, he questioned, “Why do I say that the private sector has to lead this country?” In response to a query, Aurangzeb stated that political stability was a key factor in the influx of investment. He claimed that every day, Rs190 was lost as a result of sit-ins.
We need to think about it as a group. We ought to cultivate tolerance. “It doesn’t matter which administration comes in when we talk about the Charter of Economy,” he added, adding that everyone should be in agreement for a stable Pakistan. He said that the increase in petroleum volume was a result of the smuggling ban. They found unauthorized stations, he added, and they were sealed. Additionally, they had warned stores that sold illegal cigarettes.
In response to a query, he stated that we were discussing the agriculture tax with the Sindh administration. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan were working on it, while the Punjabi government had already completed some work on it.
According to the finance minister, wholesalers, retailers, real estate, and agriculture will all be subject to taxes. He stated that the tax system needed to be expanded and deepened. He added that the process of digitalization was preventing income tax and sales tax leaks.
In response to a query about inflation, he stated that the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has proposed a Standard Item Agenda to regulate the costs of transportation, gasoline, and pulses in light of the drop in rates in global markets in order to help the populace. He claimed that in order to keep price increases under control, Price Control Committees needed to be active.
