Addressing a post-budget press conference in Islamabad, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said that ” Prime Minister Imran Khan and the cabinet opposed the imposition of tax on mobile phone calls, internet data, and SMS. “Now there will be no increase in the tax rate for all these services.”
The original decision, if it had been implemented, would have affected over 98 million people.
Tarin said the government has presented a total growth budget and their challenge is to stabilise growth.
Tarin said that additional tax of Rs500 billion will be collected in the next financial year. “We have to earn dollars by increasing exports and add an additional tax of Rs500 billion in the next financial year.”
The finance minister said that Pakistan had to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for help when its position is weak.
“We need 20 per cent growth in exports. Our savings rate is 15 per cent and our investment rate is up to 16 per cent. If we do not have revenue, how will we achieve growth?”
Tarin said that the poor in the country have not received loans and training for the last 70 years. Loans up to Rs 2 million will be given to build a roof and loans to poor farmers will go up to Rs 500,000. Pakistan has become a food deficient country and we are now importing what we used to export, Tarin said, adding that the country is importing pulses, wheat, and sugar.
“We did not pay attention to our crops, but now we will pay attention to it,” he assured.
“We should not play politics with the poor,” he added.
Tarin unveiled the Budget 2021-22 yesterday. The total expenditure of the budget had been kept at Rs 8,478 billion and had set the tax collection target at Rs 5,829 billion.
