Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday lauded the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) performance as it achieved its February revenue target of Rs441 billion.
The premier took to his official Twitter handle to state that the FBR has “successfully knocked down February revenue target of Rs441 billion” and posted a robust growth of 28.5% and a monthly growth of 30%.
PM Imran maintained that his government was able to “subsidise petrol, diesel and electricity and give relief” to the people because of the FBR’s performance.
PM Imran on Monday announced a Rs10 per litre reduction in the prices of petrol and diesel as well as a Rs5 per unit cut in the electricity tariff, along with a bonanza of incentives in several areas of the economy.
In a televised address to the nation, the prime minister, while acknowledging the hue and cry made by the opposition parties about the runaway inflation, among other things, said that there would be no increase in the petrol, diesel and electricity charges until the next budget.
The board exceeded its eight-month tax collection target by Rs268 billion but narrowly avoided missing the monthly target for the third month in a row after slowing down the disbursement of taxpayers’ refunds.
Against the original but relatively low tax target of nearly Rs3.53 trillion, the FBR provisionally collected nearly Rs3.8 trillion during the July-February period of the current fiscal year, according to an FBR statement.
However, the FBR’s performance was once again largely dependent on imports that contributed nearly 53% to the total collection, which helped camouflage the weaknesses in domestic sales tax collection.
Earlier, the Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin congratulated the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for surpassing the tax revenue target of Rs441 billion for the month of February.
In a tweet, the minister said the feat showed a robust growth of 28.5 percent, and monthly growth of over 30 percent. He expressed the hope if the pace remained the same, the country would achieve annual revenue targets.
“Congratulations! FBR has successfully knocked down the February revenue target of Rs441 billion, posting robust growth of 28.5 percent, and up to the month growth of over 30 percent. At this run rate, we will achieve our annual revenue targets,” he tweeted.
Congratulations! FBR has successfully knocked down February revenue target of Rs. 441 billion, posting robust growth of 28.5 percent, and up to the month growth of over 30 percent. At this run-rate we will achieve our annual revenue targets. Insha’Allah.
— Shaukat Tarin (@shaukat_tarin) March 2, 2022
It is pertinent to mention here that FBR collected net revenues of Rs3.7 trillion during the first eight months of the 2021-2022 financial year, exceeding the target by Rs268 billion.
This represents a growth of about 30.3 percent over the collection of Rs2.9 trillion during July-February (2020-21), the board said in a statement issued Monday.
Pakistan has been under pressure by International Monetary Fund (IMF) to raise revenue through taxes and a power tariff to meet the benchmarks set under the $6 billion loan secured in 2019.
