Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb says his singular agenda is to focus on the implementation of much-needed reforms and to negotiate a new larger deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to pull the economy out of the crisis.

“No debates, no waste of time — just a steadfast commitment to implementation,” the former Habib Bank chief told Dawn soon after being sworn in as the federal finance minister. In essence, it was a strong message that he would accord top priority to structural reforms.

Referring to the need for effective taxation of agriculture, real estate, and the wholesale sector, he said extensive work has been done regarding the implementation stage, and the designer and partners have already been finalised.

His first priority would be to plug leakages in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) through end-to-end digitalisation to provide fiscal space for the government.

Past attempts to spur growth without deep-rooted stabilisation ended in an external sector crisis

Almost the entire 30 per cent jump in FBR tax revenue, so far, this fiscal year is attributed by analysts to high rate of inflation. The tax-to-GDP ratio is less than 9.5pc and Rs1.7tr is stuck in the legal process.

Praising the Special Investment Facilitation Council, the finance minister expressed confidence that it would aid in implementing........

© Dawn Business