ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar on Tuesday said   despite the economic crunch, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had presented a balanced budget for the next fiscal year.

The country could only achieve progress if the people belonging to all segments of the society would pay the taxes, he said while talking to a private news channel.

Appreciating the Pakistan Armed Forces for not demanding the increase in the defence budget, he said the salaries of high officials of Grade of 21-22 and the ministers could not be increased due to the country's economic conditions.

The government, he said, had adopted the austerity measures and was pursuing the same in their true spirit.

Regretting the culture of evading taxes, he said a street vendor, an ice-cream seller and a tailor earned more than Rs 30,000 a day but they were not paying taxes..

Usman Dar said drastic measures had been proposed by the present government to achieve the tax target set for the next fiscal year.

He urged the people to declare their hidden assets both at home and abroad by availing the tax amnesty scheme announced by the present government.

To a question, he said the country under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan and prudent policies of the PTI government was moving towards 'a welfare state'.

About the last budget, he said the budget announced by the previous government of  Pakistan Muslim League-N was mere a 'political' one.

The adviser urged the businessmen and the rich people to come into the tax net so that the country could move forward on the path of progress.