Aurangzeb highlights privatisation importance for Pakistan’s development

Kamalia: Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb Tuesday said that schools and hospitals can be run by charity, but a country is run by taxes.

Talking to the media in Kamalia, the finance minister stated that we have to gradually reduce the tax exemption, increase the tax net, bringing other sectors into the tax net.

Mohammad Aurangzeb added that the tax will be imposed on the retailer from July. The rules are there but the authority is not collecting the tax properly.

He continued to say that tax digitisation will reduce corruption. The GDP depends on tax and the whole system runs on tax.

The country's economy is on the way to improvement, the private sector can play an important role in the development of the country, said the minister.

He also stated, “It is said that why we do not control our expenditure, which is true. There are two things to look at in government expenditure. Firstly, the government should eliminate the ministries of subjects that are no longer relatable. We are considering the government expenditure which will be reduced. You will now about the practical steps in 1.5 months”.

Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb further added that the private sector can play an important role in the development of the country. The outsourcing of Karachi airport will be done in July. So, everything will have to be handed over to the private sector. If relief is needed, the burden of the government will have to be reduced which will be done. If Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was privatised 10 years ago, there would not have been so much loss.

The Federal Finance Minister said that agriculture and IT sector can play a very important role in the development of Pakistan. These sectors have nothing to do with International Monetary Fund (IMF) or anything else. The deficit on fertilisers and seeds in the budget has been maintained. They are bringing new plans for the development of agriculture. The country's economy will improve with the development of agriculture and IT, and the provision of interest-free loans to farmers will bring about a revolution in agriculture.

Muhammad Aurangzeb told that the visit to China was not made for loans but for technology transfer and in this regard we visited various IT and agricultural universities in China.