New Tax Targets | Water Crisis | Petrol Cheaper

 

According to official statistics and research by international financial agencies, Pakistan's economy is gradually improving, which is a good development in the current difficult times. Till Monday night, for the first time in the country's history, more than 35 lakh taxpayers filed tax returns and with them 55 billion. The government has extended the date of filing of returns by two weeks, which is expected to collect more taxes. This is one side of the country's fiscal picture, but the other and more troubling side is that the first quarter of the current fiscal year. In the month covering the period from July to September, the FBR is facing a shortfall of Rs 96 billion in tax collection. The government is facing severe difficulties to fulfill this.

The IMF had warned that if the tax targets are not met, the government of Pakistan will have to consider imposing additional taxes, but for this there will be a need for legislation. Economists In Rai's view, the politically troubled government will have to undergo a tough test to reach tough decisions and then get their approval from Parliament. This is not an easy task. There are indications that the government is considering bringing in a mini-budget for this purpose. The target of tax collection for October 2024 is 1098 billion rupees. The government wants to take strict action against tax evaders. Under this plan, the bank accounts of tax defaulters will be frozen and the purchase of properties and vehicles will be banned.

Contracts with PPs will have to be modified, which are causing undue burden on consumers. In fiscal year 2025, government power plants alone will have to pay Rs 1069 billion to meet the production capacity requirements, apart from the payment of private companies. As if the government will have to pay the cost of the electricity that is not generated and distributed and this cost will be collected from the consumers in the form of additional bills, against which there are already strikes and demonstrations in the country. The salaried class is also burdened by taxes. Especially the employees of the non-government sectors are suffering from severe difficulties, whose livelihood is only on salaries. They do not get free housing, transport, electricity, gas and petrol and other expensive perks like government employees, while taxes are cut a lot. With the elimination of the non-filer category, there is no longer any class that is exempt from tax. In such a situation it is not easy to meet the conditions of the IMF, but the government will have to raise taxes to repay the loans taken and ensure their collection, which is bound to create public unrest.

For the past few months, the petroleum prices have been continuously reduced and the economic growth rate is also increasing, but the continuous increase in the tax burden is increasing the economic difficulties of the people. The government will have to pay special attention to this aspect to meet the revenue shortfall, foreign debt repayment and other financial requirements and provide relief to the people. At present, claims of economic improvement are being made, but its effects on the ground are less visible. Unless the fruits of improvement reach the common man, the efforts of the government will be considered futile.

Water Crisis

In Islamabad and Quetta, there are reports of an alarming increase in the diarrheal crisis. In general, the shortage of underground water is affecting the whole country and gradually this situation seems to be increasing towards seriousness. International meteorologists have been giving warnings of increasing temperature and decreasing water level for less than 25 years. Institutions could provide the country with abundant water storage resources during this period, but political tensions remained an obstacle and this situation is still the same today. Quetta and Islamabad are among the rainfed areas of the country, and due to their hilly locations, there are several feasibility reports for constructing small and medium dams in their natural surroundings.

According to reports, Quetta is close to becoming a ghost city due to the severity of the water crisis, where the underground water level has gone down by more than 300 feet during the last decade. It is feared that the situation If it worsens further, the provincial capital may have to be moved to another location. On the other hand, according to health experts, the blue baby syndrome caused by the presence of nitrates in the water supplied in the federal capital is increasing, which is causing the citizens to suffer. There are risks to health. Before the water crisis in the whole country including Islamabad and Quetta becomes serious, the federal and provincial governments should realize the situation and prepare plans to supply clean water and implement them without delay.

Petrol Cheaper

After the announcement of reduction in the prices of petroleum products for the fifth time in two and a half months, petrol has become cheaper by Rs 28.57 and diesel by Rs 37.35. This is a big relief, the effects of which, along with other economic initiatives of the government, have been manifested in the form of benefits including reduction in inflation, which have been recognized in domestic, foreign and international economic reports. The new IMF package of seven billion loans is also an acknowledgment that Pakistan's economy is moving in the right direction. According to the prices fixed by the government for the first fortnight of October, the price of petrol till September 30 is 2.07 rupees, the price of high speed diesel is 3.40 rupees, the price of light diesel is 1.3 rupees and the price of kerosene is 3.57 rupees.

Rs per liter further reduced. Thus per liter petrol decreased from 249.10 rupees to 247.03 rupees, diesel decreased from 249.69 rupees to 246.29 rupees, kerosene decreased from 158.47 rupees to 154.90 rupees, light diesel oil decreased from 141.93 rupees to 140.90 rupees. It should be noted that last September 15, the government announced a reduction in the price of petrol by 10 rupees and the price of diesel by 13 rupees 6 paise. Earlier, on August 31, the federal government had announced to reduce the price of petrol by Rs. 1.86 and diesel by Rs. 3.32 per liter, while on August 15, the price of petrol was reduced by Rs. 8.47 and the price of diesel by Rs. 6.7 per liter. Reduction in the prices of petroleum products. Undoubtedly, the low price of oil in the world market is a result, but the government's strategy and efforts are very important in transferring its benefits to the people. In this regard, it is also important to keep the administrative machinery and the institutions that monitor the market prices active.