Finance advisor, FBR mull tax reforms using Nadra data

ISLAMABAD: The finance advisor, Shaukat Tarin, has Monday held a meeting with the federal revenue board chairman Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmad as the two top officials mulled over ways to broaden the country’s tax base, ARY News reported.

The FBR team briefed the finance ministry huddle, chaired by Shaukat Tarin, over the tax base of Pakistan and the strategies to widen it. We have begun taking steps toward securing data with the help of NADRA, said revenue body head Ahmad.

All the challenges and targets that lay before the federal tax collector, to reach all the potential tax payers, were discussed in the briefing today, according to the post-meeting statement released.

The finance advisor counselled FBR effective ways and coordinated efforts to materialize its efforts. Seek support to encourage the tax culture in the country, he advised.

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan sign accord for US$3 bn deposit: SBP

Separately today, Saudi Arabia signed an agreement with Pakistan for depositing US$3 billion in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for helping country foreign exchange reserves and mitigating COVID-19 effects.

The Central Bank shared the details of the agreement from its Twitter handle saying that the Kingdom was represented by Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) while the SBP represented Pakistan in the agreement that was signed by Chief Executive Officer of SFD Sultan Bin AbdulRahman Al-Marshad and the Dr. Reza Baqir in Karachi.

It shared that under the deposit agreement, the SFD shall place a deposit of US$3 billion with SBP and it will become part of SBP’s foreign exchange reserves