KARACHI: Pakistan’s finance chief Shaukat Tarin said on Saturday the government would extend Rs1.4 trillion of loans under Kamyab Pakistan Program which was envisaged to transform the lives of marginalized social segments to ensure their financial empowerment.
Addressing the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry while inaugurating a Kamyab Jawan Center, Tarin said the government’s initiative had only encompassed Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces initially.
However, he added it now would be available across the country from the coming week for which Rs.30-40 billion would be released on a quarterly basis.
“This is big program which has a volume of Rs1.4 trillion,” he said. “The country will provide loans to farmers, small businesses and construction sector under the same project.”
Tarin informed that the government was also planning to introduce a special program for small and medium enterprises in the country.
“The government wants to ensure equal business opportunities for all citizens of the country since it will lead to sustainable economic growth,” he continued.
The finance minister maintained the government was focusing on sustainable economic growth for the next 20 years to get rid of International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programs.
“The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government is working for inclusive and sustainable growth to avoid seeking loans from the IMF and other countries in the future,” he said, adding: “The economy of the country is moving in the right direction.”
About the idea of broadening the country’s tax net, Tarin reiterated that only two million people were giving taxes among 38 million eligible income tax payers.
“Now the data of income is available and they will be approached and asked to pay their due taxes,” he added.
He also informed that only Rs4 trillion of retail business was documented in Pakistan while estimates suggested the actual monetary worth of the sector was Rs20 trillion.
“Tax should be imposed on the volume of point of sales,” he said.
The finance chief described the prime minister’s China visit as successful, adding the Chinese leadership was requested to invest in the special economic zones in the country.
The PM also sought Chinese assistance with the country’s agricultural sector.
“Other than that, the prime minister discussed reducing bilateral trade deficit with the Chinese authorities,” he informed.
Tarin said the government was losing Rs22-24 billion on a monthly basis just to keep the prices of petroleum products toward the lower side.
