LAHORE, May 26: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali indicated on Monday that tax burden would be reduced in the new budget to discourage tax dodgers and motivate the people to pay their dues in full.
Tax exemptions and reduced tax rates would enable the government to collect more revenues for development projects, said the prime minister while inaugurating a 100-bed Mumtaz Bakhtawar Hospital set up at Raiwind Road.
The premier directed the federal finance minister to hold consultative meetings with representatives of the business community for the preparation of budget which, he hoped, would be presented in a fortnight. He held out an assurance that the government would give all possible incentives in the budget.
Mr Jamali said he would ensure compartmentalization of politics and business, adding that combination of the two in the past had led to the emergence of nouveau riche, who paved the way for the dissolution of assemblies.
However, he maintained, good politicians could give better policies to strengthen the economy and in an economically strong country political leaders were in a better position to play their role.
Reiterating that the economic policies pursued during the past three years would be continued because of “visible dividends” they had brought to the country, the prime minister said investments made during his tenure would face no seizures. He saia a previous government had made a mistake by freezing foreign currency accounts after they had already been spent up.
According to him, the government had frozen $2.5 billion after spending $9.5 billion deposited with various banks.
This was an obvious reference to the decision taken by then prime minister Nawaz Sharif in May 1998 after carrying out nuclear tests.
Mr Jamali said after the Sept 11, 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, Pakistan was full of opportunities for investment. Gwadar port, one of the biggest projects undertaken, would change the outlook of the country, he believed.
In his rather light comments on the situation created by the LFO controversy, Mr Jamali said working with a thin majority was not an easy task. He said Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi could afford to relax because of the party’s numerical strength in the Punjab Assembly, but the music the federal government was facing in Islamabad was quite different.
However, he believed he would overcome the difficulties.
