Tarin asks government to reduce expenditures

Tarin says government should broaden the tax net by adding new sectors instead of levying new taxes on private sector.

KARACHI: To pull the country out of the current economic crisis, the government has to reduce expenses and take immediate measures for the revival of corporations incurring losses of more than Rs400 billion, according to former minister for finance, Shaukat Tarin.

Tarin said that the government should broaden the tax net by adding new sectors to it instead of levying new taxes on the private sector. He said that existing industries are already paying taxes and the government must implement the nine-point agenda to pull the economy out of the crisis.

He was speaking during a dinner at a local hotel which included the Indo-Pak Chamber of Commerce President SM Munir and other industrial and business stalwarts. He added that losses in Pepco have reached Rs200 billion but no adequate steps have been taken to stem the losses. Tarin advised the government to take stakeholders into confidence while deciding the tax plan and that the government’s team comprises more of bystanders than of dedicated workers.

SM Munir said that the country is going through troubled times after the floods with surging prices and increases in tariffs of electricity and gas. He added that the government can save Rs100 billion if it controls the losses of the many state organisations.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2010.