Finance
Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, chaired a meeting at the Ministry of
Finance on Sunday to review matters related to
the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Finance Division. Chairman FBR and
senior officials of the Ministry of Finance and FBR participated in the
meeting.
Acting Finance Secretary briefed the Finance Minister on the progress of the
various ongoing initiatives of the Ministry of Finance. He said that efforts
were in hand to make sure that the strong fiscal performance of first quarter
is maintained during the second quarter and beyond. Acting Finance Secretary
also briefed the Minister on the estimates of gross external financing needs
during the current fiscal year. He said that a recently published World Bank
Report had erroneously indicated Pakistan’s gross external financing needs at
US$ 31 billion for the current fiscal year. He said that the Report is based on
misinterpretation of standard definition of the gross financing needs of the
country. Based on the international reporting standards, Pakistan’s actual
gross financing need for FY 2017-18 is estimated atUS$18 billion (5.3% of GDP)
rather than $31 billion (9% of GDP). He informed the Minister that the matter
has been taken up with the World Bank to rectify the error. The Minister was
informed that external inflows are expected to be sufficient to meet repayment
obligations. Acting Finance Secretary said that, in the first two months of
current financial year, exports and remittances have improved and imports have
slowed down.
The Finance Minister directed the Finance Division to proactively work with the
World Bank to ensure correct reporting of economic data. He also directed to
ensure timely and effective implementation of the various ongoing initiatives
of the Ministry.
Chairman FBR briefed the Finance Minister regarding the progress in Taxpayer’s
outreach programme launched by FBR on the instructions of FM for broadening of
tax base. He informed that senior officers of FBR are holding workshops on
e-filing of returns for members of tax bars, professional bodies and chambers
of commerce and industry. Large corporate employers have been approached for
ensuring filing of returns by all employees
receiving taxable salary. Help desks have been established in tax offices
throughout the country and FBR’s helpline and website have been revamped to
facilitate return filing. Chairman FBR informed the Finance Minister that the
efforts in this direction are yielding results and up to 13thOctober
more than 352,000 returns have been received as against 162,000 returns
received up to the same date last year. The Minister was further informed that
specialized Broadening of Tax Base (BTB) zones will become fully operational
w.e.f 1st November 2017.
Finance Minister expressed his satisfaction on the progress made by FBR and
stated that the last date for filing of returns was extended to 31st October,
based on the genuine demands from tax professionals and trade organizations. He
said that given this facilitation which has been extended to trade bodies and
taxpayers, FBR should now work closely with representative bodies to ensure
that returns due for the current year are filed by 31st October
2017.
