NA body expresses displeasure over delay in formulating ZTBL board.

Byline: Imran Ali Kundi

ISLAMABAD -- A parliamentary committee on Thursday expressed displeasure over the delay in constituting the board of Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) from last several months, which is affecting the performance of the Bank.

The meeting of National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs was held under the chairmanship of Faiz Ullah, MNA. The committee has asked from the government about delay in formulation of ZTBL board. Committee members were of the view that performance of the ZTBL is getting affected due to the ministry of finance, which failed to constitute its Board from last several months. They have noted that loan disbursement of the ZTBL has declined by 43 percent.

Sohail Rajput, Additional Secretary, ministry of finance informed the Committee about the reason of delay regarding formulation of ZTBL Board. He said that the proposed nominations were sent to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for necessary actions including security clearance for last more than two months, which was still awaited. The Committee expressed its displeasure on the procedural delays in this regard and directed the Special Secretary, M/o Finance to intervene in the matter. It said summary for the formulation of said Board may be submitted to the Prime Minister at the earliest for smooth and effective working of the Bank.

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Dr Hamid Attique, Member (IR Policy) Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), briefed the Committee regarding the expected collection of revenues towards achieving the targets set by the government in the Budget 2020-21. The committee was informed that annual tax collection target of FBR is Rs4.963 trillion for the current fiscal year. The government has targeted to collect Rs1989 billion in income tax, Rs1991 billion in sales tax, Rs677 billion in customs and Rs305 billion in Federal Excise Duty (FED). FBR's officials informed the committee that government had set challenging tax collection target to achieve better results.

The committee was informed that FBR had achieved the revised tax collection target of Rs3907 billion in last fiscal year.Covid-19 had affected the tax collection in previous financial year. Dr. Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed, Member (Inland Revenue), briefed the Committee about the refunds issued by the FBR in respect of Income Tax and Sales Tax. The Committee expressed its satisfaction on the presentation given by the...