Finance Minister Ishaq Dar says continuous growth in revenue collection has helped in reducing the fiscal deficit from 8.8 per cent to 4.45 per cent during the past three years.
Addressing a function held to congratulate the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) team for achieving revenue collection target of Rs 3.404 trillion during the last fiscal year, Ishaq Dar urged the FBR team to do more for achieving another target of Rs 3.621 trillion during the current financial year.
He said more work needs to be done in the information technology sector, for mitigating the leakages and for making the Sales Tax system a robust one. He said Pakistan’s ranking has not only gone up from negative to stable but it is also now ranked as positive by international monetary institutions.
He said investment ratio to GDP has also increased from 12.6 per cent to 15.6 per cent which will further be enhanced to about 21 per cent. Meanwhile, talking to a delegation of the Abu Dhabi Group, led by Group Chairman Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan in Islamabad, the finance minister said the government welcomes foreign investment which will facilitate achievement of the objective of higher sustainable economic growth.
He also welcomed the merger of Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited and Warid Telecom which is likely to be finalised soon. He said the merger is a proof of the strength gained by the Pakistan’s economy and the business opportunities for prospective investors.
Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan said on the occasion Pakistan that has become an attractive investment destination due to the turnaround in its economy.