Pakistan wants to expand its ties with US, says Aurangzeb
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Tuesday that Pakistan wanted to further expand its ties with the USA, not only in trade but also in other sectors. Addressing a function in Islamabad, he said the country’s exports were on the rise. The minister said he had a meeting with the US commerce secretary on Monday at which the issue of tariffs came under discussion.
“The secretary assured me that soon there would be a strategic deal between the two countries,” he added. He further said that the government would introduce reforms in the energy sector and would broaden the tax base. “The government is taking steps to develop the industrial sector so that the country’s exports could be increased,” he informed.
Aurangzeb went on to say that the expenditures to be incurred on the payment of pensions were more than the amounts allocated for development purposes in the recently presented budget. “There is a proposal to levy a five per cent tax if the pension is more than Rs10 million,” he informed.
He was of the view that if any provincial government was going to launch projects under the public-private partnership, the Center must learn from it. “We can copy the model of public-private partnership as presented by the Sindh government.”
Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)
