ISLAMABAD: A high-powered committee on Wednesday held a meeting to review the draft plan for withdrawal of concessionary statutory regulatory orders (SROs) in the fiscal year 2016-17.

The meeting, headed by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, was attended by Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Revenue Haroon Akhtar Khan, Board of Investment (BoI) Chairman Miftah Ismail, FBR Chairman Nisar Mohammad Khan, among others.

The FBR chairman briefed the meeting about the concessionary SROs to be withdrawn under the heads of customs, sales tax, income tax and federal excise duty, an official announcement said.

In 2014-15, Rs105 billion worth of SROs and exemptions were withdrawn while in 2015-16 this amount stood at Rs120bn.

The finance minister appreciated the concerted efforts of the FBR in undertaking the phase-out plan of the concessionary regime.

He said the present government has undertaken a series of reforms to achieve macro-economic stability and now wishes to consolidate the gains.

Mr Dar said that promotion of tax culture and elimination of exemptions for the privileged class aim at strengthening the national economy.

He said that in the upcoming fiscal year the phasing out programme of concessionary SROs/exemptions would be completed.

In December 2013, the government approved phasing out of concessionary regime which included withdrawal of discriminatory SROs and exemptions given to privileged persons.

Dar also directed the BoI and FBR to work out proposals for incorporation in the upcoming budget 2016-17 to provide incentives to investors.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2016