Budgeting process to be reformed: Ayesha Ghaus

LAHORE:

Finance Minister Ayesha Ghaus Pasha said on Friday that the provincial government had chalked out taxation and public finance management reforms. She said the reforms had been approved by the chief minister.

She was talking to a donor coordination meeting to review the implementation plan for tax and public finance management reforms.

The minister said the government hoped to reform the tax collection mechanism in the province through a roadmap. She said reforms had been planned for modern financial management systems. She said the government hoped to change the budgeting process from annual-incremental to evidence-based, medium-term and performance-based budgeting.

Capacity building of government officials on public finance management was an important feature of the reforms, Pasha said.

She thanked development partners for providing technical assistance on areas identified in the reform plan.

She said the government wanted to mobilise resources without raising taxes or over-burdening current taxpayers.

“We must stop tax evasion and broaden the tax base,” she said.

She said the government was strengthening institutional capacity of the Finance Department to introduce greater efficiency and transparency.

It was decided that the government would present a detailed plan to its development partners. The development partners were invited to select areas in the reform strategy that they could support.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29^th, 2015.