Aiming to meet IMF goal without more burden on taxpayers: minister

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb has said the country will be able to meet its revenue goals for the year, without adding further strain on existing taxpayers, at a time the government looks to curb the criticism it has faced since last year over unpopular reforms, including record-high taxes.

“We are moving in the right direction,” Muhammad Aurangzeb said in an interview with Bloomberg News at a conference in AlUla, Saudi Arabia. “Any shortfall is going to be met through expanding the net and stronger compliance.”

He said Pakistan would use macroeconomic stability to execute structural reforms without repeating past mistakes. He said this time there should be sustainable growth as there will be prudent fiscal management. “The twin deficits experienced in yesteryear would not be repeated again.

At the moment, the current account and primary surplus are there,” he added. On account of regional connectivity, he said China was a big corridor in terms of Belt and Corridor Initiative so both trade and investment would be the engine of growth. “We are going to see importance of regional corridor and connectivity. Going forward, we see GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) as huge export potential. There is a potential in mining, services and agriculture. We are currently standing at $30 billion in terms of exports and it is our ambition to double it in three to five years,” Aurangzeb added.

The minister said in last 12 to 14 months Pakistan achieved significant progress in terms of macroeconomic stability as reduction in inflation was great story, policy rate, forex reserves, stable currency and institutional inflows were coming back in and this stability would be used to execute structural reforms in the context of taxation, energy, SOEs, moving towards privatisation and then focusing on public finances. “As we go forward there should be sustainable growth,” he said.