Prime Minister Imran Khan has lauded the efforts of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), after the country’s premier tax collecting authority achieved an impressive 41 percent growth in revenue collections.

“I appreciate FBR's efforts to achieve a historic growth of 41pc on March 21 with a collection of Rs 460 billion. From July 20 to March 21, our receipts reached Rs 3380 billion, which is 10pc more than the same period last year,” said PM Khan in a tweet post.

The prime minister was of the view that the growth is clear signs of the broad-based economic recovery that has resulted from government policies.

The statement comes after FBR has released the provisional revenue collection figures for the first nine months of the current fiscal year. According to the provisional information, FBR has collected net revenue of Rs.3394 billion during the Jul-March period, which has exceeded the target of Rs.3287 billion by more than Rs.100 billion. This represents a growth of about 10pc over the collection of Rs.3076 billion during the same period last year.

The net collection for the month of March was Rs.475 billion, against a required increase of Rs.367 billion, representing an increase of 46pc over Rs.325 billion collected in March 2020 and 129pc of the target. The year-on-year growth of 46pc is unprecedented. These figures would further improve before the close of the day and after book adjustments have been taken into account.

On the other hand, the gross collections increased from Rs.3178 billion during this period last year to Rs.3571 billion this year, showing an increase of 13pc. The amount of refunds disbursed was Rs.177 billion compared to Rs.102 billion paid last year, showing an increase of 74pc. This is reflective of FBR’s resolve to fast-track refunds to prevent liquidity shortages in the industry.