ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Sunday that the government would review the “disproportionate burden” suffered by the country’s salaried class due to high taxes, calling on other sectors to “step up” to remedy the situation. 

Pakistan last year passed its Rs13 trillion ($46.66 billion) national budget to strengthen the case for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout deal. The budget increased the tax liability by Rs22,500 [$80.50] for all persons earning more than Rs50,000 [$178.89] a month. In 2023 also the government imposed a higher income tax on salaried persons it deemed “high earners.”

The move invited anger from Pakistan’s salaried class, including the Salaried Class Alliance of Pakistan, who warned of a brain drain and said they were already burdened by high taxes, surging inflation and strained incomes. 

“The manufacturing industry and the salaried class has suffered a disproportionate burden,” Aurangzeb told reporters “We will undertake all efforts to try to review this in the next budget and take this toward rationalization.”

The finance minister said that other income segments and sectors will have to contribute by paying more taxes. He pointed out that for the first time, Pakistan’s provincial assemblies had passed the agriculture income tax bill. 

“In the same way, our brothers and sisters in the real estate and wholesale and retailers sector will all have to step up, so that the burden on other categories can be adjusted in a proportionate manner,” Aurangzeb said.

In response to a question, Aurangzeb said Pakistan’s diaspora abroad was happy with the government’s policies. He thanked overseas Pakistanis for contributing with increased remittances every month.

“The way remittances are increasing, this year we expect them to reach around $35 billion as compared to $30.2 billion last year,” Aurangzeb said.