ISLAMABAD: President Dr. Arif Alvi has said that the country’s economy was going through historic difficulties and the present government inherited current account deficit, budget deficit and circular debts. He said a huge chunk of revenue was being consumed to clear the debts, leaving limited resources for development work however, the current account deficit has been narrowing due to fall in imports and rise in the exports.
While exchanging views with General Secretary Businessmen Group (BMG) & Former President KCCI AQ Khalil and Acting President KCCI Khurram Shahzad during a meeting held at Aiwan-e-Saddar in Islamabad, Dr. Alvi said that the remittances have been appreciating while the foreign reserves of the country were also improving.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international donor agencies were closely monitoring all the initiatives and activities being made by the present government and also the strategies devised by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) which have resulted in improving the number of taxpayers, he said.
“It is being anticipated that the number of registered persons for Sales Tax will also rise in the days to come”, he said, adding that as improvement in revenue generation has been witnessed during the last two months, they expect that the FBR and Ministry of Finance will not to go for any mini budget or additional taxes to reduce deficit.
He said that the business community has been playing a commendable role in the progress and prosperity of Pakistan, which we highly appreciate and hope that the business & industrial community will continue to strive hard with same zeal and enthusiasm to promote the positive image and the massive investment opportunities available in Pakistan which would surely help in attracting maximum foreign investment in the country.
He also assured to urge the government to accommodate representatives of the business community in the policy making process in the larger interest of the country. “It is the business community which not only contributes to the economic development but also plays a major role in the
