ISLAMABAD  - The Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar held meetings separately with the Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Tariq Bajwa, Governor State Bank of Pakistan Yasin Anwar and senior officials of the Ministry of Finance to review the progress at the Finance Ministry here this afternoon.
The Chairman FBR informed the Finance Minister that there was no let up in the efforts of the FBR for achieving the revenue target of Rs 2475 billion set out by the government. Bajwa also informed the Finance Minister about the notices issued to new income tax payers as part of the campaign to increase the number of assesses by identifying new asesees. The Finance Minister expressed the confidence that FBR would continue its efforts to collect taxes and facilitate the tax payers in filing their returns.
In a separate meeting with the Governor State Bank of Pakistan the Finance Minister reviewed the Foreign Exchange reserves and the Balance of Payment position. He directed the Governor SBP to redouble efforts to increase inflows as per plan.
The Finance Minister also chaired a high level meeting which was attended by senior officials of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, Privatisation Commission, Ministry of Commerce, Board of Investment. Income support plan and senior officials of Ministry of finance.
The Secretary Petroleum informed the Finance Minister that 260mmcfd gas would be added to the system by December 2013 which would be dedicated for the power sector.
The officials of BoI gave various proposals to further improve the investment climate in the country and improve business environment. The Finance Minister directed the Secretary Income Support Programme to streamline the process of release of funds so that maximum number of families can benefit from the programme.