KARACHI: Pakistani authorities have taken some stringent measures to broaden the country’s tax net, including blocking mobile phone connections of individuals and registering retailers, ahead of Islamabad’s talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this month for a new loan program.
Pakistan and the IMF are expected to begin formal talks after the arrival of an IMF team in Islamabad in the mid of May. Islamabad has said it expects a staff-level agreement by July. Though both Pakistani and IMF officials have refrained from commenting on the size of the program, the South Asian nation is expected to seek around $7 billion bailout from the global lender.
Last month, Jihad Azour, the IMF director for the Middle East and Central Asia, said that “reform is now more important than the size of the program.” The Fund is insisting on increasing the tax net, implement energy reforms and ensure good governance as part of the reforms, according to Pakistani officials.
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad on Thursday, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the IMF had recommended a number of measures and the government would utilize this revenue for the betterment of the masses.
“The IMF has recommended to expand tax net, control electricity theft and ensure good governance to save the resources,” Tarar said, adding that introducing reforms in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) was top priority of the government to address economic issues and broaden the tax net.
The Pakistani government has reshuffled officials within the tax collection agency to streamline operations and enhance its transparency, according to the official. It has decided to block more than half a million mobile phone connections of individuals, who had not filed their tax returns, and emphasized on the registration of retailers ahead of formal talks with the IMF.
“FBR has taken decisive action by issuing an order to disable mobile phone SIMs associated with 506,671 individuals who fall under the aforementioned category,” the tax collection agency said in a notification issued on April 30.
“These measures are aimed at encouraging individuals to fulfill their tax obligations and contribute to the country’s economic development.”
In an another move, the FBR has decided to expedite the registration of around 3 million retailers, under the Tajir Dost Scheme, which focuses on traders and shopkeepers operating through a fixed place of business, including a shop, store, warehouse, office or similar physical place.
However, representatives of trade bodies say the scheme, launched on April 1, had not produced the “desired results.”
“The scheme is failing because there is no awareness among traders about the pros and cons of the scheme, while business conditions are also not supporting such a move,” Atiq Mir, chairman of the All Karachi Tajir Ittehad (AKTI), told Arab News on Friday.
“Amid high inflation and slow business activities, traders are struggling to survive and they can’t afford another burden of taxes.”
To deal with the situation, the FBR has appointed Muhammad Naeem Mir, chairman of the All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajran’s Supreme Council, chief coordinator of the Tajir Dost Scheme.
Naeem, who has not yet taken the charge, said he would analyze and discuss the strategy with FBR officials next week.
“From Monday onwards, we will draw strategy and work on the scheme after discussing and getting know-how of it from FBR officials,” he told Arab News.
Naeem denied any resistance from traders, saying the FBR had not run a comprehensive campaign to introduce the scheme, but people were “voluntarily registering themselves.”
Under the scheme, the FBR has notified registration of retailers in six major cities, including Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Quetta. The tax agency expects around Rs100 billion revenue by imposing advance tax in these cities from the July this year, according to FBR officials.
If the FBR successfully implemented the scheme by bringing about 3 million more taxpayers in the net, the overall active taxpayers would increase to more than 7 million from the existing 4 million in Pakistan.
Pakistan takes stringent measures to broaden tax net ahead of IMF loan talks
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Pakistan takes stringent measures to broaden tax net ahead of IMF loan talks
- Islamabad expects an agreement with the IMF by July, though both sides have refrained from commenting on the program’s size
- Law Minister Azam Tarar says IMF is insisting on increasing tax net, implementing energy reforms and ensuring good governance
Pakistan smoking-related deaths surpass South Asia, global averages — survey
- Pakistan’s annual rate is 91.1 per 100,000 people, with 80% smokers expressing desire to quit
- Average death rate for South Asia is 78.1, while the global average is 72.6 per 100,000 people
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s annual smoking-related death rate of 91.1 per 100,000 people significantly exceeds both the South Asian and global averages, according to an analysis by Gallup Pakistan on Tuesday, based on the Global Burden of Disease 2024 report.
Smoking is often initiated at a young age in Pakistan, with many individuals beginning the habit during adolescence. Although laws exist to prevent the sale of cigarettes to anyone under 18 and prohibit sales near schools, enforcement remains weak.
The affordability of cigarettes further contributes to the easy accessibility of tobacco products for youth. Early initiation is additionally driven by peer pressure and the perceived glamor associated with smoking, despite restrictions on promotional activities.
“According to the Global Burden of Disease 2024, Pakistan reports an annual death rate from smoking of 91.1 per 100,000 people, notably higher than the averages for South Asia (78.1) and the rest of the world (72.6),” Gallup said.
“Between 1990 and 2021, Pakistan experienced a 35 percent relative decrease in smoking-related death rates, which is lower than the reductions achieved by India (37 percent), South Asia (38 percent), and the global average (42 percent),” it added.
Gallup also mentioned data from the World Health Organization, saying it showed that purchasing 100 packs of the most-sold cigarette brand requires 3.7 percent of the GDP per capita, significantly lower than India’s 9.8 percent and Bangladesh’s 4.2 percent.
However, cigarette affordability is still decreasing in the country, with the share of GDP per capita needed to buy 100 packs rising by 38 percent between 2012 and 2022 due to price increases.
Gallup also quoted its own 2022 opinion poll, saying 80 percent of smokers in the country expressed a desire to quit smoking.
Pakistan plot spin blitz as West Indies return after 19 years
- Pakistan capitalized on home advantage when England came in October
- West Indies last toured Pakistan in 2006, before a militant attack on visiting Sri Lanka team
MULTAN, Pakistan: Pakistan will look to formidable spin duo Noman Ali and Sajid Khan to torment the visitors when the West Indies play their first Test series in the country in 19 years from Friday.
Pakistan capitalized on home advantage when England came in October, tailoring pitches for slow bowling to snap a painful winless streak with a 2-1 victory.
Noman and Sajid played starring roles and are joined in the squad by Abrar Ahmed, hinting at a three-pronged spin assault in the two-match series in Multan.
The West Indies last toured Pakistan in 2006, before a militant attack on the visiting Sri Lanka team three years later scared off international sides.
Andre Coley is in charge of a West Indies team which has won only two of its last 13 Tests before he hands over the reins to white-ball coach Daren Sammy in April.
“It’s a new series, a new opportunity,” Coley told reporters as the team arrived last week.
“When you talk about Test cricket, it’s not only the opposition’s skill that provides tests, but the different conditions, different environments and different game situations.”
Pakistan selectors delivered victory against England by taking the bold decision to drop ace batsman Babar Azam and pace pair Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah.
Left-arm spinner Noman and off-spinner Sajid shared 39 of 40 England wickets on pitches baked with patio heaters and dried with fans, clinching the series after losing the first match.
“We bounced back well against England,” said skipper Shan Masood of a series that salvaged his reputation after Pakistan lost their first six matches under his captaincy.
“With backs against the wall we did well. We need to learn how to land the first punch,” he said after his team suffered a 2-0 defeat in South Africa last week.
Azam has regained his place but Shaheen and Naseem remain out in a bid to manage their workloads.
Opener Saim Ayub is suffering from a calf injury sustained in South Africa and his partner Abdullah Shafique is dropped because of poor form, leaving the door open for the return of experienced Imam-ul-Haq.
To match Pakistan’s spin attack, the West Indies will deploy left-armers Gudakesh Motie and Jomel Warrican, as well as Kevin Sinclair.
Kemar Roach will head the pace attack in the absence of Shamar Joseph — out with a shin injury — and Alzarri Joseph who has opted to play T20 cricket in the UAE.
The second Test starts January 25, with the series deciding which team will finish bottom of the World Test Championship table.
Pakistan currently rank eighth and the West Indies ninth and last.
South Africa and Australia have already qualified for June’s WTC final at Lord’s despite Australia’s shock loss to the West Indies in Brisbane last year.
Squads:
Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Kashif Ali, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan, Noman Ali, Rohail Nazir, Sajid Khan, Salman Agha
West Indies: Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Joshua Da Silva, Alick Athanaze, Keacy Carty, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Tevin Imlach, Amir Jangoo, Mikyle Louis, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Kemar Roach, Kevin Sinclair, Jayden Seales, Jomel Warrican
Pakistani security forces kill four militants in North Waziristan operation
- The intelligence-based operation was carried out against TTP militants in the Spinwam area
- Pakistan’s army chief said this week security forces will continue targeted operations against TTP
KARACHI: Pakistani security forces killed four militants in an intelligence-based operation in North Waziristan’s Spinwam area, the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said on Wednesday.
The operation comes amid a surge in militant violence in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, which Pakistani authorities attribute to cross-border attacks by the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from neighboring Afghanistan.
Officials have also accused the Afghan Taliban administration of facilitating these attacks, a claim Kabul has denied.
Pakistan’s army chief, General Asim Munir, told political stakeholders in KP this week that security forces were not planning a full-scale operation against the TTP but would continue targeted intelligence-based actions to counter the banned militant faction.
“On night 14/15 January 2025, Security Forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in general area Spinwam, North Waziristan District on reported presence of khwarij [TTP militants],” the ISPR said in a statement.
“During conduct of the operation, own troops effectively engaged khwarij’s location, and after intense exchange of fire, four khwarij were sent to hell,” it added.
Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the militants, who the ISPR said had been actively involved in numerous violent attacks on security forces and targeted killings of civilians.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif commended the security forces for their efforts.
“The nation is proud of the fearless youth in our security forces,” Sharif said in a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office. “We remain determined to thwart the evil designs of the enemies of humanity and will continue to work toward eradicating terrorism from the country.”
The ISPR emphasized the operation underscored Pakistan’s commitment to eliminating militancy, adding security forces were determined to “wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country.”
Pakistan’s Imran Khan defiant even as longer sentence looms
- The former prime minister can get 14-year prison term this month in the Al Qadir Trust graft case
- Analysts believe the security establishment is using the sentence as a bargaining chip with Khan
ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan, Pakistan’s most popular politician, is facing a 14-year prison term this month in a case his party says is being used to pressure him into silence.
The former prime minister, long a source of frustration for the powerful military, has been in custody since August 2023 and faces a slew of legal cases he says are politically motivated.
A looming verdict for graft linked to a welfare foundation he set up with his wife, the Al-Qadir Trust, is the longest-running of those cases, with a verdict postponed on Monday for a third time.
“The Al-Qadir Trust case, like previous cases, is being dragged on only to pressure me,” Khan said this month in one of his frequent statements railing against authorities and posted on social media by his team.
“But I demand its immediate resolution.”
Analysts say the military establishment is using the sentence as a bargaining chip with Khan, whose popularity undermines a shaky coalition government that kept his party from power in elections last year.
“The establishment’s deal is he comes out and stays quiet, stays decent, until the next election,” said Ayesha Siddiqa, a London-based author and analyst on Pakistan’s military.
Analysts say the military are Pakistan’s kingmakers, although the generals deny interfering in politics.
Khan said he had once been offered a three-year exile abroad and was also “indirectly approached” recently about the possibility of house arrest at his sprawling home on the outskirts of the capital.
“We can assume from the delays that this is a politically motivated judgment. It is a Damocles sword over him,” Khan’s legal adviser Faisal Fareed Chaudhry told AFP.
“The case has lost its credibility,” he said, adding that Khan will not accept any deal to stay silent.
Khan has been convicted and sentenced four times in other cases. Two cases have been overturned by the Supreme Court, while judges have suspended the sentences from the other two.
The specialist anti-graft “accountability court” is set to announce the verdict and sentence in the welfare foundation case on Friday, two days after government envoys are scheduled to meet leaders from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to ease tensions.
The PTI has previously sworn to refuse talks with a government its leaders claim is illegitimate, alleging the coalition seized power by rigging February 2024 polls.
They say they will only take part if political prisoners are released and an independent inquiry is launched into allegations of a heavy-handed response by authorities to PTI protests.
Otherwise, Khan has threatened to pull his party from the negotiations and continue with a campaign of civil disobedience that has frequently brought Islamabad to a standstill.
The most recent protests flared around November 26, when the PTI allege at least 10 of their activists were shot dead. The government says five security force members were killed in the chaos.
“The government would like to appear legitimate, and for that they need PTI to sit down in talks with them,” said Asma Faiz, associate professor of political science at Lahore University of Management Sciences.
“Ideally, they would be looking to offer some relief to Imran Khan and his party to appease the domestic and international criticism,” she told AFP.
For now, it appears to be a stalemate, said Michael Kugelman, South Asia Institute director at The Wilson Center in Washington.
“The army might be willing to give Khan a deal that gets him out of jail, but Khan wouldn’t accept the likely conditions of his freedom,” he told AFP.
“Another problem is I can’t imagine the government agreeing to an investigation of November 26. But PTI won’t budge on that demand.”
A stint in exile is common in the trajectory of political leaders in Pakistan who fall out of favor with the military and find themselves before the courts, only to return to power later.
Three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif served only a fraction of a sentence for corruption, spending several years in London before returning to Pakistan in late 2023.
Former and current president Asif Ali Zardari moved to Dubai after his party was rebuked by the generals.
Both men are now considered the chief architects of the ruling coalition.
But exile might not fit with the carefully worked image of Khan, whose political rise was based on the promise of replacing decades of entrenched dynastic politics.
“I will live and die in Pakistan,” Khan said in a statement shared by his lawyers. “I will fight for my country’s freedom until my last breath, and I expect my nation to do the same.”
Government approves revised deals with 14 independent power producers to reduce electricity costs
- Revised contracts will save the government about $5 billion over their duration, benefiting consumers
- Revised agreements will also include a $126 million cut in the profits reaped by these IPPs in the past
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s federal cabinet on Tuesday approved a plan to renegotiate agreements with 14 independent power producers (IPPs), a move aimed at lowering electricity costs and addressing the country’s mounting circular debt crisis, according to a government statement.
The issue of IPPs, dating back to agreements signed in the 1990s and 2000s, gained prominence recently amid soaring inflation and public discontent over high electricity prices.
At the core of the problem are capacity charges, or payments made to IPPs regardless of electricity consumption, which have exacerbated Pakistan’s circular debt, now exceeding Rs2.4 trillion ($8.6 billion), as per the energy minister Sardar Awais Ahmad Laghari.
“These revised agreements, finalized after negotiations with 14 IPPs, propose a reduction of Rs802 billion ($2.9 billion) in costs and profits, including a Rs35 billion ($126 million) cut in past excess profits,” the statement said, adding the revised contracts will save the government Rs1.4 trillion ($5 billion) over their duration, translating into annual savings of Rs137 billion ($493.2 million) for consumers.
The renegotiated deals include 10 IPPs established under the 2002 policy and four under the 1994 policy, with one 1994 agreement terminated altogether.
The government’s renegotiation efforts, also influenced by International Monetary Fund reform recommendations, seek to reduce tariffs and capacity payments to ease fiscal pressure.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was also quoted in the statement as describing the revised agreements as significant achievement.
“These settlements will not only save the national exchequer but also help eliminate circular debt and reduce electricity prices,” he said.
