Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Minister of State for Finance Aisha Ghaus Pasha told the National Assembly during a question-hour session that Pakistan faced a difficult situation when the coalition government came into power and the IMF suspended the programme.
She said that Pakistan faced no risk of default.
She said: “We have revived the IMF programme and exports have improved and remittances are also on the rise. She said that and investors were showing interest in investment Pakistan as a result of the government’s reforms initiative.”
She said the international community intends to help Pakistan in the post-flood reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts.
Pasha said policies were being pursued to enhance the size of the formal economy by including potential taxpayers into the tax net. The state minister said that the entire supply chain from import to retail was being integrated with the FBR to ensure data documentation.
She the citzens to pay taxes so that funds could be made available to health, education, transport, defence and other sectors.
She said that internal and external factors were behind inflation.
Minister for Commerce Naveed Qamar said that Pakistan’s trade with the UAE has increased and the government’s effort to further increase it with the friendly country.
The house offered fateha for those who were killed in a traffic accident at Sehwan Sharif.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbassi said that damage assessment had been completed in Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan while surveys will be completed in other provinces by the end of the month.
He said that the damage assessment in Balochistan and Sindh could not be completed as the rainwater was yet to recede in certain areas. He was confident that the damage assessment data would be available by the first week of December.
