Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday reiterated the government’s resolve to steer the country out of the challenge of economic crisis by bringing structural reforms in the economic sector to provide maximum facilities to the people of the country.
He said that the government was fully committed to increase tax to GDP ratio, tap the huge potential of natural and agriculture resources, stop smuggling, power theft, and losses of the State Owned Entities.
Addressing a cheque distribution ceremony among the affected people by torrential rains and snowfall in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the prime minister called for setting aside all the differences in the larger national interest to work as a nation to ensure that the country was developing at a faster pace.
Currently, he said the country’s tax collection target for the current fiscal year was 1.2 trillion which was not up to the true potential due to tax evasion by certain sections.
He said even the salaries of the federal employees were being paid with the borrowed money. Therefore, he said this was the right time to take tough and important decisions to resolve all the key challenges, the country was facing.
As regards the losses of SOEs, the prime minister informed that the SOEs were incurring losses of hundreds of billions rupees as the loss of only Pakistan International Airlines was around Rs 825 billion. Similarly, he said the country lost Rs 500 billion every year to power theft.
Talking about the losses and damages occurred due to recent rains, snowfalls and land sliding in AJ&K, the prime minister expressed his grief and sorrow over the loss of eight precious lives and prayed for the grant of eternal peace to the departed soul and early recovery of those injured in the incidents.
