ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance Mohammad Aurangzeb has initiated discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is urging Pakistan to enhance its revenue collection.
The publication reported that the IMF is suggesting two options — either unveil a mini-budget to meet the revenue shortfall of Rs189 billion or come up with a viable plan to reduce the unbridled expenditures.
Finance Secretary Imdad Ullah Bosal and Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Rashid Mehmood Langrial started the first session with the visiting IMF team scheduled to stay in Islamabad from November 11 to 15.
It remains to be seen how the IMF responds but satisfying the IMF over its concerns seems to be a difficult undertaking.
The finance minister has informed the IMF that the country’s tax machinery collected Rs11 billion from retailers, wholesalers, and distributors in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
However, the much-hyped Tajir Dost Scheme (TDS) has miserably failed to get the desired results as the tax collected through this scheme stands at just Rs1.7 million by the latest available figures against the agreed target of Rs10 billion for the first quarter.
A top official said the TDS was just an instrument to bring retailers and wholesalers into the tax net but its objective has been achieved as the FBR managed to collect an additional Rs11 billion from them in the first quarter through the normal taxation regime.
