Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is unveiling the annual federal budget on Tuesday, expected to balance growth, austerity, and taxation, during a National Assembly session chaired by Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq. As soon as the session began, opposition members started chanting slogans. At the beginning of his speech, the finance minister said: \u201cThis budget is being presented during a historic moment, as the country pressed on through difficult times.\u201d \u201cThis budget is being presented at a historic time when the nation showed unity [and] determination,\u201d he said, mentioning the recent Pak-India conflict. \u201cThe spirit with which we protected our national sovereignty, we need to ensure our financial security in the same way,\u201d he stressed. He continued through the noisy session: \u201cPakistan has now achieved economic stability and is moving towards a Pakistan that is prosperous\u201d. The minister highlighted the current account surplus, remittances and the stability of the rupee while also mentioning the positive reports from international credit rating agencies Moody\u2019s and Fitch that upgraded Pakistan\u2019s rating. Aurangzeb said that it was unavoidable to aim for a 14pc tax-to-GDP ratio and added that achieving the national targets was \u201cimpossible without the transformation of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).\u201d Detailing that transformation, the minister listed B2B e-voicing, AI-based audit selection systems for sales and income tax, e-billing and faceless audits, and a new central control unit to centralise data collection, among other steps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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