KP CM’s aide says WB report on poverty an eye-opener for rulers

PESHAWAR: Advisor to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister on Finance and Inter-Provincial Coordination Muzzammil Aslam said on Wednesday that the people were experiencing the worst kind of poverty and unemployment but the federal government claiming the economy was improving.

“The World Bank report on poverty is an eye-opener for the rulers,” said an official communique quoting him as saying.

The finance advisor noted that even after seeing the WB’s poverty report, the rulers remained unaware, despite the fact that the report echoes what Imran Khan had been saying.

He said that the stock market had a market capitalization of $66 billion based on the current index (158,000). He added that in 2017, the stock market was valued at $100 billion when the index stood at 50,000. Those who bought shares in 2017 were still facing a 34 percent loss in dollar terms today.

He said that Pakistan’s economic model was failing in relation to poverty, a point that Imran Khan had repeatedly emphasized. Aslam said one should consider how well Imran Khan understood the ground realities, and how ignorant the current government was.

The advisor said that only one week was left in the deadline for filing tax returns while millions had already submitted their tax returns. Now the FBR issued an Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) requiring that the market value of assets should also be declared.

This has caused widespread concern across the country. Muzzammil Aslam said that interestingly, those who had already filed returns would also have to make amendments.

He added that people already avoid the tax system due to harassment and Pakistan’s globally high tax rates, while the federal finance minister had been promising for one and a half years to simplify the tax return process.

He said the situation was going in the opposite direction as many tax consultants had contacted him and expressed the same concern.

He added that this move was illegal, any changes made to a tax return form must be accompanied by at least 90 days of time for compliance.