ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance Miftah Ismail says reductionin income tax rates will perhaps be the only relief for public in thecoming budget. “We will try to decrease income tax rates, as perhaps theonly incentive for public in the upcoming budget,” he told The News in aninterview.
With the country’s economy passing through a difficult transition period,the focus of the economic team under premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is totake more corrective and less popular measures.
“In this budget, we won’t be introducing mega projects. We have talked toPPP and PTI on this through good offices of the National Assembly Speaker.
And we will give the opposition a briefing on the budget before the budgetsession. We will leave the mega and big projects to the next government. Wewill only finance ongoing projects in the coming budget,” the adviser says.
The PML-N government does not want to make it an election year budget. Theydid it in the last budget by introducing the highest ever developmentprogramme, including motorways, highways, power plants, etc.