Islamabad, 12 May, 2025: Pakistan’s mobile service providers collected over Rs84 billion in taxes from consumers during the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
The Ministry of Finance confirmed that a total of Rs84.24 billion was gathered between July 2024 and March 2025, with all funds directly deposited into the national treasury.
During the same National Assembly session, lawmakers were briefed on significant progress in broadening the country’s tax base.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has reportedly added 2.39 million new taxpayers, thanks to recent legislative amendments.
As of April 29, 2025, a total of 6.59 million individuals had filed tax returns, including over 106,000 Association of Persons (AOPs) and nearly 94,000 companies.
Read More: OpenAI and Microsoft in Tense Talks Over Equity and AI Access
Details were also revealed regarding the federal government’s privatization programme.
The Ministry of Privatization told the Assembly that 24 public sector entities have been approved for privatization by the Cabinet Committee on Privatization.
The process will be executed in three stages over a five-year timeline.
The first phase, expected to conclude within a year, will see the privatization of several key entities.
These include Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), First Women Bank, House Building Finance Corporation, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), and Pakistan Engineering Company (PECO).
Additionally, major power distribution companies such as IESCO, GEPCO, and FESCO are also part of this phase.
