Finance Minister Asad Umar said on Monday that mid-term economic framework initiatives enable the economy to rise high in coming years, PTI government not preparing for upcoming elections but stabilizing the economy for the next generations of the country
Islamabad (Pakistan Point News / Online - 08th April, 2019) Finance Minister Asad Umar said on Monday that mid-term economic framework initiatives enable the economy to rise high in coming years, PTI government not preparing for upcoming elections but stabilizing the economy for the next generations of the country.He expressed these view while inaugurating the "Mid-term economic framework" here on Monday.Asad said that talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have entered the final stage, and the economy has been recovered from an Internsive Care Unit (ICU) state.
"We have entered into the stage of sustaining the economy," he said,He said that it was an unfortunate situation to observe many countries moving ahead than us. Minister revealed that Pakistan has not been exporting enough goods for increasing trade.While criticising previous government, he said the PTI-led government has "inherited the bad economy.""We are taking loans to pay interest on the external debt," he said, adding that Rs800 billion is allocated for only paying interest on the total debt.
The finance minister said that, instead of taking easy decisions influenced by "the news cycle or elections", the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government wanted to devise policies that will strengthen the economy in the long term.Asad Umer admitted that Pakistan's economy is still hostage to a huge spending gap and fiscal and current account deficits, at this stage, the government is borrowing loans in order to pay the interest of old loans.
He identified low revenue generation by the FBR as a key reason behind the economic difficulties being faced by the country. Drop in exports and low savings also hinder the country's economic growth, he said.He emphasized on tax reforms, complaining that due to the low revenue generated by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) this fiscal year and in the past, the economy of the country had gradually slowed in its growth.To improve revenue collection, Umar said that it was important to differentiate between policy and administration.
Past governments had "compromised on economic growth by giving primacy to revenue ", he added."Revenue will only increase when the economy develops," he said and announced that the government had decided to form a separate tax policy unite with experts on board.He also stressed on the importance of using technology to reform the tax collection system. For that purpose, FBR has secured the services of Pakistan Revenue Automation (PRAL) and a board with people with relevant expertise has been formed.
