Shamshad lambasts FBR for hindering revamp

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Minister for Finance Dr Shamshad Akhtar lambasted the FBR for creating stumbling blocks in the way to restructuring of the FBR, saying that she would continue to reform the FBR till her last day in office.

Top official sources confirmed that the tussle on the restructuring of FBR has intensified as earlier efforts were made to bring changes to the slot of Secretary Revenue Division as currently, FBR Chairman Amjad Zubair Tawana holds both positions. Being Secretary Revenue Division, he is supposed to forward a summary of the restructuring of the FBR to the Federal Cabinet. However, the sources said that the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) did not grant permission to bring changes just ahead of the upcoming general elections so attempt to replace him was foiled.

The sources said that efforts were underway to convince the Chairman/Secretary Revenue Division to prepare and send a summary within the stipulated timeframe. But in case of increased friction, the chances persist that the FBR chairman might prefer to tender his resignation instead of moving the summary with his signature. But it’s premature to judge this evolving development at this stage but things have become quite intense at the moment, said one official.

The sources said that the Ministry of Finance has not yet shared the official minutes of the inter-ministerial meeting of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC). The FBR has inquired about the minutes of the inter-ministerial meeting concerned but got nothing from the Q Block (Ministry of Finance) at the Pak Secretariat.

Addressing Pak Economic Challenges here at NUST on Thursday, the minister said, “The FBR is giving me a hard time but I will keep going and when it becomes unbearable, I know where to go.” She said, “You receive abuses for touching the FBR but I will continue the struggle to reform it till the last day in her office.”

She said that people say that she did not have a mandate to restructure the FBR. Those people should then come forward and take it from here, she said without referring to the Senator’s stance that the caretaker government did not have a mandate to bring about changes in the FBR.

About holding positions on the board of SSGCL, she said, “I have not done anything wrong. I will not take the ministry but will stick with the company that I have transformed.” She claimed that being a minister in a caretaker government is not a conflict of interest, as she is not holding a public office. She said that it was the ministries that were opposed to reforming the state-owned enterprises. “We want to restructure the SOEs but these are in the hands of the ministries,” said Dr Akhtar.

The Ministry of Finance did not invite the media to cover the event titled ‘Digital Transformation-Envisioning the Pakistan Digital Stack.’ The minister in her address stated that the FBR was resisting the reforms but she would continue doing so till the last day in her office.

In her address at NUST, she said the economic vulnerability increased due to the rise in public debt and she had done a thorough analysis for three days and found that Pakistan breached the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation Act (FRDLA) 2013 owing to large fiscal and trade deficit occurred in last two decades. The public debt and its services became unsustainable as it consumed ¾ of the revenue receipts generated by the FBR. Secondly, she said that the vulnerability increased due to climate shocks because of global warming as there are predictions that the weather patterns would become even more volatile in decades ahead. The South Asia, according to some scientists, might suffer, she added. The third vulnerability is lack of innovation and technology. “In such structure of economy, the growth is not sustainable” she said.

The manufacturing, exports base and agriculture basket are focused on very narrow range of a few products and failed to penetrate new markets, she said and added that the SIFC was a blessing in disguise for making a paradigm shift.

According to an official statement issued by the Ministry of Finance, the caretaker minister said that a comprehensive overhaul of the government’s fiscal apparatus is vital to lower the revenue-expenditure gap.

Bold reforms would lead to a new era of development and prosperity in the country. Effective implementation of ambitious reforms will depend on addressing critical underlying institutional, governance, and structural constraints, said Dr Shamshad Akhtar during the keynote address on Pakistan’s economic challenges and the way forward.