Pakistan in Final Stages of Securing Debt Rollovers: Aurangzeb

Discussions with some of Pakistan’s prominent lending partners for the rollover of maturing debt are progressing positively and in the final stages, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in an informal conversation with media persons today. Aurangzeb firmly rejected proposals to shift the tax burden from traders to salaried and manufacturing sectors, stressing that such a move would be unjust. He urged the business community to make legitimate demands that don’t diminish the importance of broad-based tax contributions for the country’s development. Aurangzeb said there was an external financing gap of $2 billion but talks were well underway to secure this amount. He ruled out any near-term need for seeking commercial loans and said positive developments were expected soon. Additionally, the Finance Minister assured that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) would meet its tax collection targets through digitization and enforcement without increasing withholding tax rates.