Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Tuesday that Pakistan wanted to further expand its ties with the USA, not only in trade but also in other sectors, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Addressing a function in Islamabad, he said the country’s exports were on the rise.
The minister said he had a meeting with the US commerce secretary on Monday at which the issue of tariffs came under discussion. “The secretary assured me that soon there would be a strategic deal between the two countries,” he added.
He further said that the government would introduce reforms in the energy sector and would broaden the tax base. “The government is taking steps to develop the industrial sector so that the country’s exports could be increased,” he informed.
Aurangzeb went on to say that the expenditures to be incurred on the payment of pensions were more than the amounts allocated for development purposes in the recently presented budget. “There is a proposal to levy a five per cent tax if the pension is more than Rs10 million,” he informed.
He was of the view that if any provincial government was going to launch projects under the public-private partnership, the Center must learn from it. “We can copy the model of public-private partnership as presented by the Sindh government.”
Aurangzeb said that Pakistan and the United States are stepping ahead to strengthen their strategic partnership. He said that both countries are moving in the right direction.
The Finance Minister said the government will stay the course of reforms in taxation, energy and other sectors. He said we have also carried out tariff reforms to move towards competitive economy.
As regards pension reforms, the Finance Minister said Defined Contribution Pension Scheme is a win-win for both the government and the employees. He said the government has increased the pension of retired employees by seven percent in line with inflationary trends. He said we have also proposed a five percent tax on pensions above ten million rupees while protecting low- and middle-income pensioners.