FBR collected Rs4,745 billion tax in 2020-21: Finance ministry

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collected tax of Rs4,745 billion during the fiscal year 2020-21, the finance ministry informed Senate on Friday.

In a written response submitted in Senate, the finance ministry said the tax collection increased in 2020-21 as compared to the first two years of the incumbent government.

The report said the government collected tax of Rs3,828 billion in fiscal year 2018-19 and Rs3,997 billion in 2019-20.

The collection increased rapidly increased in 2020-21 in which the FBR bagged tax of Rs4,745 billion.

Furthermore, Pakistan’s imports were $11.28 billion in July to September in the 2020-21 fiscal year, while the exports were recorded at $5.47 billion during the same corresponding period.

The trade deficit was recorded $5.81 billion from July to September 2020-21, the written reply of the finance ministry stated.

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In 2021-22, the country’s import bill was $18.74 billion during the period of July to September, while the exports were $6.99 billion.

The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank fell US$169 million during the week ending on December 31, according to the data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.

Sharing a break-up of the foreign reserves position, the central bank had said that foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $17,680 million, down $169mn compared with 17,855.3 million on December 24.