ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has categorically said that there is not going to be any tax in the federal budget 2015-16 on the foreign remittances.
In his address at the launching ceremony of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy Pakistan 2015-2020 in Islamabad on Friday, Ishaq Dar said that the budget for the next year would be announced in the National Assembly on June 5.
The minister also indicated that allocations for the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) would be increased for the next year.
The finance minister further said that after defeating the threat of default and converting instability into a stable economy, the government would now focus on economic growth.
Ishaq Dar said that despite challenges the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate would be 4.2 percent in the current financial year.
The federal minister for finance said that the target of 5.5 percent could not be achieved because of floods that damaged agriculture sector and undesirable political sit-in in Islamabad.
The minister acknowledged that the fall in prices of oil and other commodities in the international market helped contain current account deficit which was over 2 percent in previous years to below 1 percent in 2015. However, he added, this also resulted in fall in revenue collection.
