Awais leghari says electricity prices reduced by 10 rupees and 50 paisas over the last 18 months:wais Leghari says electricity prices reduced by 10 rupees and 50 paisas over the last 18 months
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb says structural reforms, being carried out in multiple sectors, are yielding positive results in the form of macroeconomic stability, leading to sustainable economic growth.
Speaking at a news conference in Islamabad on Monday, alongside the economic team, the Finance Minister said this progress has also been acknowledged by the global financial institutions and rating agencies.
He said the recent upgrades by three major credit rating agencies and the staff-level agreement reached with the IMF are a manifestation of this fact. He stressed that these external endorsements confirm that the country is on the right track.
The Finance Minister also highlighted the reduction in inflation and policy rate and the stability in foreign exchange reserves.
Minister for Power Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari, while giving an update on the reforms in Power division, said the electricity prices have been reduced by 10 rupees and 50 paisas over the last 18 months. He said the reduction for the industrial units has been to the tune of sixteen rupees per unit.
He said we are also set to operationalize Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM) in January or February next year with the aim to facilitate electricity trading market.
Describing this as the biggest reform in the power sector, he said this will free the government from the business of purchasing power and the consumers will get better prices of electricity in future.
Sardar Awais Leghari said the government has also reduced the circular debt and a plan is in place to clear the circular debt of 1.2 trillion rupees without putting extra burden on the consumers in the next six years.
Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, said that the adoption of digital banking and digital payment tools will revolutionize the country's tax collection system.
She said the digitization of government departments is currently underway to expand tax net.
The Minister said four-hundred and fifty million utility bills are being printed with QR codes to facilitate easy digital payments.
She said ten million full-mandated digital accounts have been opened for women beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Programme, out of which eight million are active and engaged in digital transactions.
Highlighting the success of the City Islamabad App, Shaza Fatima said citizens of the federal capital paid vehicle taxes amounting to one billion rupees through the app this year.
Adviser on Privatization Muhammad Ali enumerated in detail the progress made for privatization of different state owned enterprises.
He said First Women Bank has been privatized and the target is to privatize PIA by the year end, mentioning that several top groups of Pakistan are interested in the PIA.
Chairman FBR Rashid Mahmood Langrial said there has been 1.49 percent increase in tax to GDP ratio in one year, emphasizing that this is the first time that such an increase has been witnessed as a result of policy and other measures.
He said our target is to enhance the tax to GDP ratio to eighteen percent in the next three to four years, mentioning the contribution of the federation will be fifteen percent and that of provinces three percent.
The Chairman FBR said the number of filers increased by eighteen percent this year as compared to the previous year.