Finance ministry terms report on Dar being 'handed' budget-making process 'misleading, incorrect'

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The Ministry of Finance said on Thursday that a media report claiming Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had been handed the budget-making process was “misleading” and “factually incorrect”.

The clarification came after a report published by The Express Tribune said the government had “handed over the responsibility of making the new budget to Dar after it found the initial work below par”.

According to the report, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had constituted a Dar-led committee to “review, analyse and present tax policy proposals” formulated by the Tax Policy Office working under the Finance Division.

Citing a notification, it added: “With the formation of the committee, the final responsibility to finalise roughly Rs215 billion to Rs230bn in new taxes and to grant any tax relief has been handed over to Dar.”