The Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar
today witnessed the signing Ceremony of Memorandum of Understanding
between Customs Department and the State Bank of Pakistan for
operationalizing electronic I-Form at the FBR headquarters.
The use of I-Form will curb the menace of under-invoicing and transfer
pricing in addition to integrating the foreign exchange accounting
system of the SBP with Customs clearances.
Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar on this occasion appreciated the efforts of
the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Revenue Mr. Haroon
Akhtar, Chairman FBR Nisar Mohammad Khan and Governor State Bank Mr.
Ashraf Mehmood Wathra for excellent coordination resulting in the
signing of the MoU and Operationalization of the I-Form.
The Finance Minister said that under the leadership of PM Nawaz Sharif
the PML-N Government had successfully implemented a number of reforms
and the process will continue in the future as well. Pakistan’s economy
has taken off and the merger of Stock Exchange, Pakistan’s return to the
international bond market and successful completion of a very tough IMF
programme are proofs of the same. He stated that for the first time in
history, Pakistan has successfully completed IMF’s Extended Fund
Facility programme.
The Finance Minister further stated that when he assumed charge, the
foreign exchange reserves were not even enough to finance two weeks’ of
import bill but by the grace of Allah, now the foreign exchange reserves
are enough to finance around five months of the import bill. He said
that for the first time, foreign exchange reserves with the SBP have
crossed $ 18 billion. He pointed to the confidence of the foreign
investors in the economy by pointing to the FDI inflows in livestock and
refrigeration industry.
The Minister for Finance stated that the real goal of the government of
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is to consolidate the economy and
not let the economic gains go waste. He lauded the efforts of FBR in
over achieving the target of revenue in last fiscal year and asked the
FBR team to work even harder for achieving current year’s target.
Speaking on the occasion the Chairman FBR Mr. Nisar Muhammad Khan
welcomed the Finance Minister and stated that there has been excellent
coordination between Customs Department and State Bank of Pakistan which
has resulted in the automation of the issuance of electronic I-Form. He
thanked the Minister for the support and encouragement to both the
Departments which made automation of Customs business process possible.
Mr Ashraf Wathra, Governor, State Bank of Pakistan recalled
that such automation and coordination between the two departments of
government could only be seen in the advanced countries but Pakistan is
setting new parameters under the leadership of Prime Minister and
Finance Minister in working towards greater national goals.
Mr Haroon Akhtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on
Revenue informed the meeting that the economy is revived and moving in
the right direction. He assured that FBR will work even harder in the
future to meet the expectations of the government of Prime Minister
Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.
After the meeting Chairman FBR and Governor SBP signed the Memorandum of Understanding operationalizing the Electronic I-Form.
