ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday asked Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials to re-evaluate and revise their strategy to enhance revenue collection to rid Pakistan of a massive public debt of $242 billion, Sharif’s office said.
The statement came hours after Pakistan reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a new $7 billion loan deal. Islamabad agreed in exchange to conduct further unpopular reforms, including widening the South Asian nation’s chronically low tax base.
Pakistan last year came to the brink of default as the economy shriveled amid political chaos, catastrophic 2022 floods and decades of mismanagement. The nation was saved by last-minute loans from friendly countries as well as support from the IMF, but its finances remain in dire straits with high inflation and staggering public debts.
Presiding over a meeting of officials at the FBR headquarters, Sharif called the revenue watchdog the “backbone” of the country’s economy and urged that sectors which were not paying taxes must be brought into the tax net.
“The prime minister issued the directives to immediately release Rs2 billion to develop the Web Based One Customs (WeBOC) System on modern lines,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.
He said the process of FBR’s digitization had begun and it would be completed in the most “comprehensive and coordinated manner,” promising full support to the revenue collection body in acquiring the latest technology.
Officials informed the participants that 4.9 million taxable persons had been identified in the country by using modern technology, according to the statement. PM Sharif directed increasing the tax base and bringing these persons into the tax net immediately.
During the 2024-25 fiscal year beginning on July 1, Sharif’s government aims to raise nearly $46 billion in taxes, a 40 percent increase from the previous year. It has used more unusual methods, including blocking 210,000 mobile connections, to compel people to file their tax returns. Islamabad also aims to reduce its fiscal deficit by 1.5 percent to 5.9 percent in the coming year.
But Pakistan’s public debt of $242 billion remains a huge problem for the South Asian country and servicing it may swallow up half of the country’s income in 2024, according to the IMF.
Pakistan asks authorities to revise revenue strategy to reduce country’s debt
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Pakistan asks authorities to revise revenue strategy to reduce country’s debt
- The statement came hours after Pakistan reached a staff-level agreement with International Monetary Fund for a new $7 billion loan deal
- Islamabad agreed in exchange to conduct further unpopular reforms, including widening the South Asian nation’s chronically low tax base
Pakistan highlights economic reforms at Davos, eyes cooperation in AI, IT and minerals
- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif speaks at breakfast event in Davos at sidelines of World Economic Forum summit
- Pakistan, rich in gold, copper reserves, has sought cooperation with China, US, Gulf countries in its mineral sector
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif highlighted Pakistan’s recent economic reforms during the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in Davos on Wednesday, saying that his country was eyeing greater cooperation in mines and minerals, information technology, cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence with other states.
The Pakistani prime minister was speaking at the Pakistan Pavilion in Davos on the sidelines of the WEF summit at a breakfast event. Sharif arrived in Switzerland on Tuesday to attend the 56th annual meeting of the WEF, which brings together global business leaders, policymakers and politicians to speak on social, economic and political challenges.
Pakistan has recently undertaken several economic reforms, which include removing subsidies on energy and food, privatization of loss-making state-owned enterprises and expanding its tax base. Islamabad took the measures as part of reforms it agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for a financial bailout package.
“We are now into mines and minerals business in a big way,” Sharif said at the event. “We have signed agreements with American companies and Chinese companies.”
Islamabad has sought to attract foreign investment in its critical minerals sector in recent months. In April 2025, Pakistan hosted an international minerals summit where top companies and government officials from the US, Saudi Arabia, China, Türkiye, the UK, Azerbaijan, and other nations attended.
Pakistan is rich in gold, copper and lithium reserves as well as other minerals, yet its mineral sector contributes only 3.2 percent to the countrys GDP and 0.1 percent to global exports, according to official figures.
Sharif said Pakistan has been blessed with infinite natural resources which are buried in its mountains in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and southwestern Balochistan regions.
“But we have now decided to go forward at lightning speed,” he said. “And we are also moving speedily in the field of crypto, AI, IT.”
He said the government’s fiscal and economic measures have reduced inflation from nearly 30 percent a few years ago to single-digit figures, adding that its tax-to-GDP ratio had also increased from 9 to 10.5 percent.
The prime minister admitted Pakistan’s exports face different kinds of challenges collectively, saying the country’s social indicators needed to improve.
“But the way forward is very clear: that Pakistan has to have an export-led growth,” he said.
SHARIF MEETS IMF MANAGING DIRECTOR
Separately, Sharif met IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on improvements in Pakistan’s macroeconomic indicators, efforts toward stability and progress on institutional reforms, a statement from Sharif’s office said.
He emphasized Pakistan’s commitment to fiscal discipline, revenue mobilization and sustainable development, it added.
The IMF managing director acknowledged and appreciated Pakistan’s reform efforts, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
“Both sides exchanged views on the global economic outlook, challenges facing emerging economies, and the importance of multilateral cooperation in safeguarding economic stability,” the PMO said.
