Punjab only province to achieve tax target: CM

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that Punjab was the only province which had achieved the tax target as 24.7 per cent increase had been reported during the revenue collection of the past financial year by Punjab Revenue Authority.

In a statement issued on Sunday, he added that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government was working day and night to put the economy of the province on the right track.

Similarly, there was an 18% increase in the tax collection target of the excise department.

Buzdar further said that special incentives were given to the business community to minimise the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

He stated that Punjab was the only province whose tax revenue target was in surplus. “The incompetence of former rulers had badly affected the economy of the province The previous governments made the province bankrupted.”

The chief minister claimed, “For the first time in the history of the country, a balanced district development package of Rs360 billion has been introduced by the PTI-led government. This package would redress grievances of the neglected areas.”

Speaking about the new Punjab Assembly building project, he elaborated that the PTI-led government completed the project by providing substantial funds of Rs2.5 billion.

The chief minister stated that work on Wazirabad Cardiology unit was started in 2006 and the same was kept pending for 15 years, adding that the PTI-led government completed that project by providing funds of Rs3.5 billion. “As many as 650,000 patients have so far been treated at the cardiology institute.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 12^th, 2021.