Tarin criticises the budget

Former Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said that his nine-point reforms programme has not been included in the budget.


June 11, 2010

KARACHI: Former Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin has said that his nine-point reforms programme for sustainable economic growth seems to have been lost somewhere as it is not in the current budget.

According to a press release on Friday, in his address at the Post-Budget seminar organized by the Southern Regional Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) the previous day, he said the government is required to pursue the programme introduced by him during the present regime.

He said that the delay in the imposition of VAT would not affect the IMF programme. "The IMF does not direct us to impose any specific tax," he added. He said that a lack of resources and an abysmal tax-to-GDP ratio are some of the major causes behind a low economic growth. "We have to enhance our tax base as all the sectors are required to be brought under the tax net," he added.

He noted that the tax-to-GDP ratio and saving level in Pakistan are the lowest in the entire region, adding that there is a need to increase saving ratio by one percent every year in the next ten years.

He was of the view that Withholding Tax on stock exchanges should have been removed after the imposition of FED. "We had promised that the Withholding Tax would be removed after the imposition of FED on stock exchanges," he said and added that this commitment needs to be fulfilled.

He was not in agreement with the assertion that the present declining trend at the Karachi Stock Exchange is due to imposition of Capital Gains Tax. "The KSE has reacted positively and its index registered healthy gains on the first day after the presentation of budget," he said.

According to him, every sector should be brought under tax net and every income should be subject to tax.

He was of the view that the government should lay focus on agriculture sector, so that this important sector also contributes its share to GDP growth.

Earlier, in his speech, he discussed the major economic issues of the country and gave his suggestions for their solution.

COMMENTS (2)

Hamid Sultan Dawoodi | 13 years ago | Reply I love Shaukat Tareen former Federal Finance Minister, in my opinion he is a man of words, when he was in power repeatedly he voiced for agricultural tax, he pointed out corruption of FBR and now his reiteration for 9 point agenda is thought provoking for our economic planners. I confess policies need to be continued but if they became scrap after change of Minister then what is the role of our Ministry?
Meekal Ahmed | 13 years ago | Reply I recall a remark Mr Tareen made when in charge of Finance that if he imposed a tax on agriculture he would be lynched. The VAT as part of the IMF prorgam was done in his time. That is what was negotiated. Why is he now saying the IMF cannot impose a specific kind of tax? It must be fun NOT being the FM. A chance to talk-tough and give lectures.
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ