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KARACHI, Nov 05 (APP):Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb, on Wednesday, assured comprehensive measures with consultative approach and continuity of policy to promote competitiveness and productivity and safeguard export oriented sectors of country.
Transition from the Final Tax Regime (FTR) to the Normal Tax Regime (NTR) will be comprehensively reviewed in the next federal budget while recently operationalized Tax Policy Office will prepare the taxation portion of the budget, he stated while speaking at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).
Advisor to Finance Minister Khurram Shehzad, DG Tax Policy Office Dr. Najeeb Ahmed Memon, Chairman Businessmen Group (BMG) Zubair Motiwala, President KCCI Rehan Hanif, and senior leadership of BMG and KCCI were also present on the occasion.
The Finance Minister assured that the government fully recognized the challenges faced by the export-oriented industries and will take corrective measures to strengthen Pakistan’s competitiveness in global markets.
The government’s immediate priority is to reduce tariffs on industrial raw materials and intermediary goods to lower the cost of doing business and to revive industrial momentum, he said and added that we wanted to safeguard Pakistan’s export base, particularly the textile sector which is the backbone of the country’s exports.
Under the major structural reforms, the Tax Policy Office has been formally separated from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and placed under the Finance Division, headed by Dr. Najeeb Memon as Director General Tax Policy, he stated, adding that the next year’s budget will not be prepared by the FBR but by the Tax Policy Office, ensuring that budget formulation is driven by economic value rather than mere fiscal arithmetic.
The objective of this realignment, he explained, is to ensure continuity and consistency in fiscal policy and by bringing tax policy under the Finance Division. The government aims to institutionalize stability and predictability in decision-making and the process of consultation and reform will be ongoing and inclusive as we want to move this country forward through a consultative approach, he remarked.
Referring to the formation of eight private-sector-led working groups by the Prime Minister to develop practical economic recommendations, he said that the formation of these groups reflects the Prime Minister’s seriousness in taking input directly from the private sector and those groups were asked to submit their recommendation by the end of the month (30 November).
Aurangzeb emphasized on the contribution of every sector of the economy to exports to enhance competitiveness and noted that Pakistan’s automobile industry has recently succeeded in finding new export markets in the GCC and Africa, which demonstrates the potential of diversification.
Addressing concerns related to FATA and PATA, the Finance Minister clarified that income tax exemptions have been retained while a 10 percent sales tax was imposed this year after careful consideration, despite strong opposition.
Aurangzeb highlighted strong performance in various sectors, mentioning that IT exports reached $ 366 million in September 2025 and are projected to surpass 4 billion dollars in the current fiscal year while the pharmaceutical industry also performed well. Despite losses in rice exports due to flood-related crop damage in Punjab, agricultural exports are expected to remain between $ 3 to 4 billion, he added.
The Finance Minister also informed that the Reko Diq mining project is on track to achieve financial close by 2028, with first-year exports expected to reach 2.8 billion dollars, representing nearly 10 percent of Pakistan’s current export base.
Responding to a media query about de-regulation of agricultural commodities, the finance minister said that though provincial governments made interventions this year to protect the farmer community amid recent heavy floods, we are moving towards deregulation of wheat and sugarcane.
On another query he emphasized that prices were being continuously monitored at the higher level by the Economic Coordination Committee and Prime Monitoring Committees and the government was doing its best to prevent arbitrage in the price mechanism.
Chairman BMG Zubair Motiwala, in his remarks, highlighted various issues faced by trade and industrial sectors including higher production cost, energy tariffs, and taxes and duties that were adversely affecting the competitiveness.
He further emphasized that by reducing duties on raw materials and aligning gas tariffs with regional competitors, Pakistan could easily raise an additional US$15 billion in exports within two years. “If we bring down our cost of doing business and energy tariffs to regional levels, we can significantly enhance exports,” he added.
Earlier, President KCCI Rehan Hanif, in his welcome address, lauded the incumbent federal government and the finance minister for restoring the economic situation of the country within a year and a half. “The situation has improved considerably, though it is still not ideal”, he remarked and raised key business concerns regarding prevailing tax policy in FATA and PATA, certain sections of the tax law, e-invoicing and e-bilty.
He suggested that the e-invoicing and e-bilty systems be reviewed and simplified and the sales tax returns be made more user-friendly with the addition of an “edit” option in it.