ISLAMABAD: A high level delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation has arrived in Islamabad on five-day emergency visit to Pakistan to discuss the modalities of the possible minibudget.
The delegation has held introductory meetings with the officials of the Ministry of Finance after reaching in Islamabad. The Officials of the Ministry of Finance Ministry has gave overview of nation’s fiscal performance.
The chairman FBR Rashid Langrial and his tam briefed the visiting delegation on tax collection and revenue figures for the first quarter of the current financial year.
According to the Board officials, the tax collection authority has achieved Rs2,625 billion tax in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. The country has achieved 96.6% of the target for the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
The visiting delegation was informed that FBR managed to raise an additional Rs8 billion in September, surpassing the target of Rs1,098 billion.
The Pakistani side briefed the delegation that the federal tax authorities has achieved 76% growth on year-on-year in income tax returns, with over 5.2 million individuals filing returns this year.
It has collected Rs132 additional revenue through this achievement. The FBR also collected Rs10 billion tax target from retailers during the first quarter.
The delegation will also meet with the Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb tomorrow. Both sides will discuss fiscal policies and potential adjustments to address the revenue shortfall during the meeting.
Earlier, it was reported that the economic managers of the country has prepared present a briefing on the nation’s economic performance in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, according to Finance Ministry sources.
The government is preparing its plan for negotiations with the IMF, including the modalities of a potential mini-budget, sources further said.
The authorities will brief the visiting delegation on progress in implementation of an agricultural income tax at the provincial level.
Pakistani authority will also brief the IMF delegation on the arrangements for bridging the $2.5 billion financing gap.
