WASHINGTON (92 News) – Adviser to PM on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has said that the economic reforms in Pakistan are not hindered by the conditions of Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Addressing a press conference in Washington, the PM’s finance adviser said that says all government institutions agreed to implement all the conditions of FATF. “Our government has not imposed any tax on the poor,” he added.
Hafeez Shaikh explained that no tax on consumers using less than 300 units of electricity and gas. He said that the federal government reduced current account deficit and increased tax revenue. He said that the big investors are being brought into the tax net.
Economy on the right path
“Pakistan’s economy is on the right path to stabilisation and the US businesses should benefit from investment opportunities available in the country,” said the finance adviser while attending a roundtable discussion with senior executives of the US-Pakistan Business Council.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Pakistani delegation led by Dr Shaikh is currently visiting the US to attend the IMF/WB annual meetings-2019.
“The US companies should expand their footprint in Pakistan,” The finance adviser urged the US investors. He also highlighted the government’s focus on improving the ease-of-doing-business in Pakistan.
The roundtable was attended by senior executives of the USPBC member companies, including S&P Global, PepsiCo, Motorola Solutions Inc, Citi, Google, ExxonMobil and others.
Earlier,
Hafeez Sheikh said that the tough decisions taken by the government are yielding positive results on the economic reforms.
Addressing a press conference with Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Shabbar Zaidi on Saturday, he said that the government has reduced expenditures for economic betterment. “About eight million people have been added to the tax net,” he claimed.
He said that the government has overcome the fiscal and trade deficits. “The trade deficit witnessed a decrease of 35 percent and fiscal deficit 36 percent during the first quarter of current fiscal year.”
