Govt plans to provide relief to salaried class

Islamabad: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said that a program has been prepared to provide relief to the salaried class in the upcoming budget.

Talking to the media in Islamabad, the Finance Minister said that work is underway to further reduce electricity bills by July or before.

He stated that a program has been prepared to provide relief to the salaried class in the next budget. He cannot tell the details of the relief to the media yet and will take the details of the relief to the IMF.

He added that 98 percent of the proposals have been received from the government and private sectors for budget preparation. The government and the private sector are working together on the budget proposals.

Before presenting the budget in the assembly, the concerned will be informed about which proposals can be implemented. The reasons for the proposals that could not be implemented will be given to the relevant sector, said Aurangzeb.

The Finance Minister continued to say that the budget will be implemented in its final form on July 1, after which there will be no changes. The aim is to give more time for the implementation of the budget.

Muhammad Aurangzeb further said that all the targets given by the IMF have been met, and he is hopeful that the IMF Executive Board will approve the staff-level agreement in May.

The Finance Minister added that tax collection from traders has improved. The Trader-Friendly Scheme should not be linked to tax collection from traders. The Tax Policy Department will start working under the Ministry of Finance this calendar year, and they are preparing a form for taxpayers that each individual can fill out themselves.