June 20, 2019: Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Sheikh Thursday constituted a high powered committee to rectify anomalies in the federal budget for addressing the legitimate grievances of the business community boosting up the economic and trade, besides ease of doing business.
An 18-member delegation of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) led by its President Engineer Daroo Khan called on the Finance Adviser and apprised him about the anomalies in the budget.
Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, Adviser to Prime Minister on Austerity Dr. Ishrat Hussain and Chairman Federal Board of Revenue Syed Shabbar Zadi were also present in the meeting, a press release said.
Hafeez Sheikh, while giving an overview of the economic indicators, said that the current government inherited Rs 31,000 billion as domestic debt and foreign loans were hovering around $100 billion.
He said foreign reserves stood at less than $10 billion while exports in last five years registered zero percent growth.
He said trade deficit was touching the mark of $20 billion, while fiscal deficit had reached at a staggering amount of Rs 2,300 billion. Besides, circular debt was increasing by Rs38 billion each month.
Abdul Hafeez further said our thrust will be on manufacturing rather than trading as it creates more job opportunities for people. He said private sector will be motivated to create jobs by giving them tax breaks on new hiring.
He said the FPCCI and top leaders of private sector have also been proper representation in the committee to make it effective forum to deliver the goods timely.
