Minister for Planning and Reform Ahsan Iqbal has said that the development budget has been increased as a result of proper tax collection.
In an interview, he said due to concrete measures of the government, the national economy is improving and strengthening day by day. Ahsan Iqbal said the country’s economic volume has reached up to three hundred billion dollars.
He said that up to a total of ten thousand megawatts of power projects have been launched under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to end load shedding, which would bring economic revolution in the country.
According to Iqbal, Pakistan’s economic volume went up to $300 billion. He said that under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), 10,000 Megawatt power projects have been launched to end load-shedding from the country. The minister added that the power projects will bring an economic revolution in the country.
In March 2017, however, Pakistan’s tax base shrunk further because only one million people filed their income tax returns in the current tax year, a decrease of almost 17 pc or 200,000 people, calling into question claims of broadening the tax base.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had published the ‘Active Taxpayer List’ for the tax year 2016, comprising only 1,013,528 entries.
Ahsan Iqbal went on to discuss the situation of budget 2017-18. He told that the PML-N government will not increase debts and leave the burden of the deficit in an election year budget as done by previous regimes.
“Our government has augmented tax collection which increased development budget,” he claimed while affirming to have become a $ 300 billion economy. He told that the government was focusing on tax revenue in budget 2017-18.
Ahsan Iqbal said that PIA has been directed to operate ATR aircraft flights from Lahore and Islamabad to Gwadar. He added that at present ATR aircraft is being used for air service between Karachi and Gwadar and with increasing traffic, there is a need to start an air service from Lahore and Islamabad for the port city.
He said the new international airport is under construction at Gwadar which would be completed in about two years’ time, resulting in the landing of big aircraft including Boeing and Airbus in Gwadar.
He agreed with the suggestion that a major road should be named after the former Prime Minister Feroz Khan Noon, who negotiated the handing over of Gwadar to Pakistan by Oman on 8 December 1958.
