Adeem Niaz

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has collected Rs5 billion tax revenue in excess of the target in the first five months of the Financial Year 2022-23 by replicating and vigorously implementing the revenue mobilization policy, reports WealthPK. The provisional net tax collection increased by 15.3% to Rs2.688 trillion in the first five months (July-Nov) of the Financial Year 2022-23 as against Rs2.33 trillion during the corresponding period of the Financial Year 2021-22, says an FBR report, a copy of which is available with WealthPK.

Exceptional steps were taken in the areas of recovery, monitoring, and day-to-day vigilance to achieve the set targets. During the five-month period, Rs24.17 billion was collected only in income tax arrears, compared with Rs11.69 billion last year. During the month of November 2022, Rs8.98 billion was collected as against Rs6.65 billion collected last year. The report says the provisional net collection for November 2022 was Rs538.2 billion as against Rs480 billion for November 2021, showing an increase of more than 11.5%.

Chairman FBR Asim Ahmad said the board is committed to achieving its revenue targets. He was talking to a team from the Prime Minister’s Office that called on him to review progress concerning the PM’s Strategic Roadmap Initiative, which focuses on service delivery in key ministries. The official report of the Economic update Nov 2022, a copy of which is available with WealthPK, says the government’s strategy of taxing the rich and powerful is consistent, as the performance is mainly based on 42% growth in direct taxes as against 4 % growth in indirect taxes.

According to the official document, the non-tax revenues declined by 15.5 % to Rs211 billion during July-Nov 2022 as against Rs249 billion in the same period of the last year. Data shows an alarming increase of 84.4% in fiscal deficit against Rs438 billion in the same period of the last financial year. Owing to an increase in exports and a contraction in imports, the current account posted a deficit of $2.8 billion for FY2023 as opposed to a deficit of $5.3 billion last year. 

In FY2023, Free on Board (FOB) exports increased by 2.6% and reached $9.8 billion as against $9.6 billion last year. FOB imports fell by 11.6% during FY2023 to $20.6 billion as against $23.3 billion in FY2022. Resultantly, the trade deficit in FY2023 reached $10.8 billion as against $13.7 billion last year, according to the data. Speaking to WealthPK, Dr. Ayub Siddiqui, Dean Faculty of the FAST School of Management, said the decline in the current account deficit (CAD) was good news for Pakistan, as it might help stabilize the country’s economic condition.

“However, to shrink the volume of imports, we have reduced the imports of some important machinery and raw material that will negatively impact the industrial zone,” he added. He further said the FBR could add a bulk of the amount to the revenue by paying attention to the industrial and agricultural side. “Although Pakistan is an agriculture-based country, still we are importing our food from neighboring countries. The government should provide technological facilities in the agricultural sector, properly and efficiently, to get more benefits which ultimately enhance agricultural growth and develop Pakistan's economy. Furthermore, to increase revenue, there is a need to pay more attention to policy making regarding the ease of doing business.” Ayub Siddiqui said.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk