WB, FBR discuss ‘Pakistan Raises Revenue’ program

The World Bank Country Director for Pakistan, Najy Benhassine called on newly appointed Chairman FBR Asim Ahmad, following Mr. Asim Ahmad’s recent appointment as the Chairman, Federal Board of Revenue.

During the meeting, the two heads discussed the World Bank-sponsored Reforms program ‘Pakistan Raises Revenue’, which is a $400 million program for domestic resource mobilization through the automation of tax collection processes and the simplification of tax compliance procedures.

As per details, Asim Ahmad gave an update on the progress of the reforms agenda covering 10 Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) and also shared concerns regarding the difficulties being encountered in progress on reform interventions involving data sharing with provinces and the Sindh High Court stay on the Track and Trace process.

It was decided that the FBR Reforms team would give a detailed presentation to Mr. Najy regarding the impediments being faced by FBR, especially with regard to Component 1 of the Reforms program, covering $320 million.

It was told that the FBR is on track regarding most of the DLIs and has made good progress on the automation of key business processes and the signing of MOUs with various authorities for sharing of data. The WB Country Director has agreed to look into the concerns raised by the Chairman FBR over matters which are beyond the scope of FBR’s administrative authority.