ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has approved the development of a modern, world-class digital ecosystem in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and directed hiring of world-renowned experts, his office said, in a bid to increase revenue collection.
The prime minister issued the directives at a meeting he presided over to review ongoing reforms in the FBR, during which officials briefed participants about linking FBR data to a single hub for real-time monitoring.
The reforms are tied to the government’s economic stabilization agenda and structural benchmarks under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program. Pakistan has one of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios in the region, despite a population of more than 240 million.
Speaking at the meeting, Sharif said the country's economy was moving in the right direction, thanks to the ongoing FBR reforms, and the government could only reduce tax on common people by increasing the tax base and eliminating informal economy.
"An entire digital ecosystem should be created to strengthen the new [FBR] system," he said. "All data from raw material production and import, product manufacturing to consumer purchases should be linked to a single system."
