ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Asad Umar on Saturday chaired a meeting of the Economic Advisory Council’s (EAC) sub-groups on National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) and Fiscal Sector at the Ministry of Finance.
The meeting was attended by all major stakeholders/members of the sub-group from the Ministry of Finance, State Bank of Pakistan, Federal Board of Revenue and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.
SBP Governor Tariq Bajwa presented the NFIS which was aimed at improving the access to financial services in Pakistan. He outlined targets as well as policy actions to be taken at various levels in the coming years to achieve those targets.
Discussions revolved around fast-tracking the digitisation of financial services to facilitate a larger number of consumers, small and medium businesses and emerging entrepreneurs throughout the country.
The finance minister appreciated the NFIS and emphasised on timely completion of goals and targets.
During the meeting, the FBR representatives made a presentation on the problems currently ailing the tax administration system in Pakistan as well as the ad-hoc-ism of tax policy. It was noted that these issues consequently lead to low tax collection, thus contributing to massive fiscal imbalances.
The sub-groups also considered solutions to fixing the crippling tax system of Pakistan by recommending policy measures targeting two major areas, tax administration and tax policy. It was noted that information technology held greater promise in getting more and more people into the tax net, and also in spotting the tax evaders.
The meeting called for coherent and continuous coordination among provinces as well as between federal government and provincial governments so that the incidents of double taxation could be avoided.
