ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance Muhammad Ishaq Dar on Friday said that the process of electoral reforms would be expedited and the government would not wait till the next elections but would bring amendments in the Constitution if needed in this regard. During his visit to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Ishaq Dar said that the PML-N government would continue to carry on the consultation process, so that a more credible caretaker set-up could be placed in future. Talking to a private news channel, Dar said that no one would be asked to apologise for the sit-ins after the Judicial Commission’s report and described the address of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to the nation as visionary and hailed his political acumen and approach for setting the course for development. Dar said that Nawaz Sharif’s address in connection with the report of General Election Inquiry Commission (GEIC) was not critical of anybody despite mudslinging by opponents.The commission had validated the stance of PakistanThe minister said the commission report was not only victory of the PML-N but the entire nation as he urged political parties to come forward and play their role for development of the country. He said that it was his party’s policy to take along all political parties on every national issue and evolve the consensus in this regard.Ishaq Dar asked the FBR to improve image of the department at field levels and take actions against black sheep. He emphasised the importance of revenue generation in national development and urged FBR to do its utmost to achieve this year’s revenue target of Rs3104 billion.Addressing Chief Commissioners Conference here at the FBR headquarters on Friday, the Finance Minister appreciated FBR’s performance, despite the challenges of reduced oil prices; drop in commodity prices and low inflation faced by it. The minister commended the FBR on increasing its revenue collection by 33% and increasing the tax to GDP ratio from 8.4% to 9.45% in last two years.The minister said simplification of procedures for filing tax returns was important to facilitate and encourage prospective taxpayers and expanding the tax net. We need to focus on this aspect as much as possible, he said. The minister also dilated briefly on the economic turnaround achieved by the present government. He said the government through a sustained reforms process had proved all economic pundits wrong who had predicted that Pakistan’s default was imminent. He said international rating agencies were now praiseworthy of Pakistan’s economic performance and international financing institutions had been re-engaged. He said Pakistan of 2015 was completely different from the Pakistan of 2013. From being a merely two tranche country we have come all the way and undertaken seven reviews with the IMF. The 8th Review will commence in a week’s time. The minister said they wished to consolidate the economic gains and move forward towards the goal of economic prosperity. He emphasised that all political parties in the country should unite on the charter of economy as he had been advocating from time to time. We should rise above all other considerations for economic good of the country, Dar remarked. Earlier in his introductory remarks, FBR Chairman Tariq Bajwa welcomed the finance minister to the conference being attended by Chief Commissioners from all over the country. He gave a brief overview of FBR’s performance. Individual presentations were made by Member (Inland Revenue Operations), Member (Legal), Member (Taxpayer Audit), Member (Counting), Member (IT) and Member (FATE). The focus of this conference was to learn from last year’s experience and devise a strategy for current financial year. The issues like handling of court cases, broadening of tax base, effective utilisation of data, facilitation and education of taxpayers, motivation of FBR’s workforce, increasing numbers of tax filers, making sales tax registration easier and localized, were thoroughly discussed.Special Adviser to PM on Revenues Division, Haroon Akhtar, and senior officials of the Ministry of Finance also attended the conference.
