Parliamentary Secretary for Finance, Saad Waseem Sheikh, stated that the government has no plans to introduce additional taxes to cover a shortage of 386 billion rupees in tax collection. He stressed that efforts are underway to fulfill the goal of revenue for the current fiscal year.
During the National Assembly questions, Mehreen Razak Bhutto has raised concerns about how the FBR is planning to achieve the goal of collecting its tax in view of the revenue gap. In response to the query, the Sheikh acknowledged the shrine, but he excluded any immediate tax increase to fill the gap.
In a written response to the question of Dr. Navisa Shah regarding the debt payment plans and the percentage of the debt that is being raised, the Ministry of Finance stated that the government focuses on maintaining public debts at sustainable levels.
The ministry noted that economic stability measures, including the basic surplus, stable exchange rate, and a significant reduction in interest rates by the State Bank in Pakistan due to low inflation, are expected to help reduce public debts in the coming years.
The government also manages external and local debt obligations by using the available cash reserves to pay the main benefits and benefits, according to the Ministry of Finance.
During the session, the Ministry of Finance also provided details of FBR tax collection over the past five years. The data showed that in 2019-20, FBR collected 3,997 billion rupees, exceeding its goal of 3,908 billion rupees. In 2020-21, revenues reached 4,745 billion rupees compared to a goal of 4691 billion rupees, while the group reached from 2021 to 22, 6,148 billion rupees, which exceeds 6,050 billion rupees.
For 2022-23, FBR collected 7,164 billion rupees, just less than 7,200 billion rupees. In 2023-24, revenues amounted to 9252 billion rupees, and tightly lost the target of 9,299 billion rupees. The numbers indicate a fixed growth in tax collection despite economic challenges.
