ISLAMABAD, May 6: The budget for 2004-05 will focus on eliminating irritants to local and foreign investment, says a senior government official. "Efforts would be made to remove duplicity of taxes in the next budget in order to improve investment environment in Pakistan," Economic Adviser to the Ministry of Finance Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan told Dawn.

Responding to a question Dr Khan, who is also the Director General of the Debt Policy Coordination Office, said that the new budget would also provide incentives for investing in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to help generate more jobs.

In reply to a question, he said that according to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), the next year Public Sector Development programme (PSDP) will be enhanced from Rs160 billion to Rs200 billion.

The business community has been demanding that the budget makers consider withdrawing the discretionary powers of the tax officers, reducing drastically the GST rates and providing cheaper electricity to industry and commercial organizations to create conditions conducive for enhancing investment.