Govt succeeded to reduce circular debt to less than Rs10b: Hafeez

Prime Minister's Advisor on Finance Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh says PTI government has succeeded in reducing the circular debt to less than 10 billion rupees.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad on Sunday, he said when PTI government came into power the country was heading towards bankruptcy, but under the objective of economic stability, a number of steps were taken to control our Dollar Reserves.

He said Government expenses were reduced through austerity measures and current account deficit was also reduced over 70 percent.

Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said six hundred thousand additional tax payers were registered. He said a new system has been introduced since 23rd of the last month under which speedy refunds are given to the business community. Now, refunds will be automatically ensured on 16th of every month.

The Advisor said the process of privatization has been expedited and state owned enterprises will be restructured on fast track basis to improve their performance.

He said the government is considering privatization of National Bank of Pakistan and State Life Insurance for better results.

The Advisor said value of rupee has improved resulting in a benefit of 246 billion rupees in loans. He said 250 billion rupees have been allocated for the development of agriculture sector.

Dr Abdul Hafiz Shaikh said the government fixed the economic growth target of 2.4, which will be achieved easily due to prudent economic policies of the government.

To a question, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said ease of doing business is top priority of the government.

He said government is providing loans and subsidy to the business community on gas, electricity, due to which exports are on the rise. Businessmen are important for the government, who are vital in provision of jobs.

Responding to another question, the Advisor said merit, transparency, and protection of workers' rights will be the top priority in the privatization process.

He also made it clear that there was no tax on food items.

The Finance Advisor said the government expects to collect over 1000 billion rupees additional revenue through tax and non-tax resources in the current fiscal year. He said 140 billion have been received from two cellular companies and 370 billion is expected to be received in future from other resources.

He said the economy of the country is rapidly moving toward stability due to effective policies of the government and economic indicators are positive as stock market and value of rupee are stable.

Dr Hafeez Sheikh said no compromise will be made regarding tax collection. He said reduction in petroleum prices in international market will be passed on to the general public.

Ijaz/Karrar