Interest rate expected to go down during this year: Aurangzeb

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Wednesday said that the interest rate is expected to go down during the calendar year.

Addressing a gathering of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce federal minister also pledged reduction in energy costs.

He said for the first time in the country, agriculture income has been brought into the fold of the taxation system.

Finance minister said that the business environment has improved, “ Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) loans have increased by 41 percent and it is not an insignificant number.

Speaking on the recent trade deal with the United States, wherein the tariffs were reduced from 29pc to 19pc, the finance minister said that it is the best moment for exporters to get benefit from this deal and hailed it the “regionally competitive tariff”.

Aurangzeb said that the salaried class could not be burdened further. “We have no other alternative except to expand the tax net”.

He said that the government had reduced its debt servicing by Rs1 trillion in the past year. “Hopefully, our debt servicing will go down by more than 1 trillion this year.”

Finance Minister said that the Panda Bonds will be issued by the end of this year.