Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar has said that harmonization of general sales tax (GST) is important to reduce the cost of doing business in the country.

According to the 24NewsHD TV channel, the finance minister chaired a meeting of the National Tax Council (NTC) at the Finance Division on Monday and reviewed the progress on the decisions of the last meetings of the NTC on the harmonization of GST across the country.

Punjab Finance Minister Mohammad Mohsin Laghari, Minister of State for Finance Dr Ayesha Ghos Pasha, SAPM on Finance Tariq Bajwa, SAPM on Revenue Tariq Mehmood Pasha, Secretary Finance, FBR Chairman, Provincial Finance Secretaries, and other senior officers of Finance Division attended the meeting.

 Ishaq Dar said that GST harmonization will be a major step towards the completion of policy actions under the World Bank’s RISE program.  The participants shared their opinions on the harmonization of GST.

Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Asim Ahmed and provincial stakeholders extended their consensus to proceed ahead in the spirit of greater national interest for harmonization of GST under the umbrella of NTC.

The minister appreciated the stakeholders for building consensus and settlement of the decision regarding the harmonization of GST for ease of doing business.

Reporter: Waqas Azeem