Daily Times

Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Shaukat Tarin, on Monday, said that the government want to bring back Pakistan’s past economic glory when Pakistan was one of the four largest economies in the Asian region.

In the past, in the 1960s, “we were counted with economies like China and Japan, when we were economically strong” Adviser Finance said this while addressing as chief guest in,’ Kamyab Jawan Convention’ jointly Organized by Islamabad Chamber of Commerce (ICCI) and Kamyab Jawan Program in ICCI Auditorium.

The adviser said that the government is focusing on human resource capital and Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which will be our top priority.

He said that raising the tax-to-Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio to 20pc could improve the country’s growth rate and provide employment opportunities to the youth.

The minister said that the current tax-to-GDP tax rate in Pakistan is 9pc which is very low and needs to be doubled to 20pc. “There is no way out without paying taxes because we use the resources of this country, so taxes are obligatory on all sections, including traders,” he said. He said that no one has the right to national resources without paying taxes.

The adviser said the government is working hard on human resource capital and interest-free loans and skills development courses for young people, agricultural loans, home loans in easy installments and health cards are steps in this direction. According to the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, we are taking important policy steps for the youth, he said. Shaukat Tarin said that the young population is 60pc of the country without which the country cannot move forward.