Tax policy, revenue administration separated

Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday said that all his ministers were doing good job but urged them to enhance the pace of work.Chairing a meeting of the federal cabinet, Imran Khan asked the ministers to gear up efforts to achieve the ambitious agenda of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government.
A participant of the meeting told The Nation that the premier was ‘satisfied’ with the performance of the ministers in the first 100 days of the PTI-led government.
The meeting discussed the performance of ministries and ministers in connection with the government’s 100-day plan.
An eight-point agenda, including reforms in Gilgit-Baltistan and the country’s security and economic situation, was discussed.
“The PM was happy but asked the ministers to work harder to achieve the targets in five years,” said a cabinet member.
The cabinet decided to separate tax policy from revenue administration in line with the PTI manifesto. To this effect, a committee has been constituted to work out legal and technical modalities, said an official statement issued after the meeting.
The cabinet reiterated maintaining strict fiscal discipline in the country for the purpose of curtailing fiscal deficit and ensuring that the expenditures and revenue remain within the budgeted estimates.
It also discussed in detail the issue of availability of surplus sugar stock in the country and the pending payments of the growers. It was decided to refer the matter to the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet for detailed deliberations and proposing a workable solution to address the issue on priority basis.
Prime Minister Khan reiterated during the meeting that the interests of the sugarcane farmers will be protected while resolving the issue of sugar mills.
The cabinet while considering financial difficulties of Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation especially the issues being faced by the employees in getting their salaries and pensions, decided to grant Rs400 million as Technical Supplementary Grant in order to provide relief to the organisation.
The cabinet, however, stressed upon the need for chalking out a comprehensive plan to ensure strict financial discipline and enhancement of revenues for the purpose of financially sustainability of the organisation.
The Prime Minister directed that no employee working in the government will be sacked from service.
The cabinet approved reconstitution of a ‘Search Committee’ for appointment to the post of Vice-Chancellor Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University Islamabad. The committee would be headed by Minister for Human Rights Shirin Mazari.
The cabinet approved appointment of Ayla Majid, Ghiasud Din Ahmed and Hamid Ali Khan as independent directors of Central Power Purchasing Agency (Guarantee) Limited.
Appointment of Faisal Ahmed, Pharmacist Drug Testing Laboratory Quetta as Technical Member-I of the Drug Court Balochistan Quetta was approved by the cabinet.
The meeting approved release of Rs20 billion in financial year 2018/19 for the Fencing and Lighting project of Pak-Afghan border.
The cabinet ratified the decisions of the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet taken during its meeting on 22 November, 2018.
The decisions included grant for disbursement of Provident Fund, Gratuity and payroll due to the heirs of deceased employees of Pakistan steel mill, natural gas load management during winter 2018-19 and release of public sector’s surplus wheat to poultry association of Pakistan.