Pakistan to review ‘disproportionate’ tax burden on salaried class in upcoming budget— finance minister

Pakistan to review ‘disproportionate’ tax burden on salaried class in upcoming budget— finance minister
A man sits outside a bank along a street in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on July 15, 2023. (AFP/File)
Short Url
Updated 23 February 2025
Follow

Pakistan to review ‘disproportionate’ tax burden on salaried class in upcoming budget— finance minister

Pakistan to review ‘disproportionate’ tax burden on salaried class in upcoming budget— finance minister
  • Pakistan last year increased tax revenue by $80.50 for all persons earning over Rs50,000 per month
  • Muhammad Aurangzeb urges real estate, wholesale and retail sectors to “step up” with more taxes

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Sunday that the government would review the “disproportionate burden” suffered by the country’s salaried class due to high taxes, calling on other sectors to “step up” to remedy the situation. 

Pakistan last year passed its Rs13 trillion ($46.66 billion) national budget to strengthen the case for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout deal. The budget increased the tax liability by Rs22,500 [$80.50] for all persons earning more than Rs50,000 [$178.89] a month. In 2023 also the government imposed a higher income tax on salaried persons it deemed “high earners.”

The move invited anger from Pakistan’s salaried class, including the Salaried Class Alliance of Pakistan, who warned of a brain drain and said they were already burdened by high taxes, surging inflation and strained incomes. 

“The manufacturing industry and the salaried class has suffered a disproportionate burden,” Aurangzeb told reporters “We will undertake all efforts to try to review this in the next budget and take this toward rationalization.”

The finance minister said that other income segments and sectors will have to contribute by paying more taxes. He pointed out that for the first time, Pakistan’s provincial assemblies had passed the agriculture income tax bill. 

“In the same way, our brothers and sisters in the real estate and wholesale and retailers sector will all have to step up, so that the burden on other categories can be adjusted in a proportionate manner,” Aurangzeb said.

In response to a question, Aurangzeb said Pakistan’s diaspora abroad was happy with the government’s policies. He thanked overseas Pakistanis for contributing with increased remittances every month.

“The way remittances are increasing, this year we expect them to reach around $35 billion as compared to $30.2 billion last year,” Aurangzeb said. 


Pakistan rejects Indian allegations it tried to launch attack on Golden Temple

Pakistan rejects Indian allegations it tried to launch attack on Golden Temple
Updated 50 sec ago
Follow

Pakistan rejects Indian allegations it tried to launch attack on Golden Temple

Pakistan rejects Indian allegations it tried to launch attack on Golden Temple
  • Major General Kartik C Seshadri, General Officer Commanding of 15 Infantry Division, said Golden Temple directly targeted in recent wave of attacks
  • Foreign office spokesman says Pakistan holds places of worship in “highest esteem and cannot think of targeting a holy site like the Golden Temple”

ISLAMABAD: The ministry of foreign affairs on Tuesday “categorically” rejected allegations by a senior Indian army officer that Pakistan had attempted to target the Golden Temple in the Indian city of Amritsar using drones and missiles earlier this month.

During a media briefing in Amritsar on Monday, Major General Kartik C Seshadri, General Officer Commanding of the 15 Infantry Division, said the Golden Temple was directly targeted in the recent wave of attacks as India and Pakistan engaged in their worst fighting in decades between May 7-10, which ultimately ended with a US-brokered a ceasefire. He said the Indian army’s air defense gunners shot down all drones and missiles Pakistan had launched at the Golden Temple. 

The Pakistani foreign office spokesperson called Seshadri’s comments “baseless and incorrect.”

“We categorically reject the allegations that Pakistan attempted to target the Golden Temple, the most revered place in the Sikh faith. We hold all places of worship in the highest esteem and cannot think of targeting a holy site like the Golden Temple,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

He said Pakistan was the “proud custodian” of numerous sacred sites belonging to the Sikh faith and annually hosted thousands of Sikh pilgrims from around the world, providing visa-free access to the historic Gurdwara Sahib Kartarpur through the Kartarpur Corridor.

“In that backdrop, any claim concerning Pakistan’s attempt to target the Golden Temple is absolutely baseless and incorrect,” the spokesperson added. 

At least 60 people died in fighting earlier this month triggered by an April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing, a charge Pakistan denies.

Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both countries, which have fought multiple wars over the Himalayan territory since their 1947 independence from Britain.


Committed to upholding ceasefire with India, Pakistan tells UN envoys from Arab nations 

Committed to upholding ceasefire with India, Pakistan tells UN envoys from Arab nations 
Updated 24 min 12 sec ago
Follow

Committed to upholding ceasefire with India, Pakistan tells UN envoys from Arab nations 

Committed to upholding ceasefire with India, Pakistan tells UN envoys from Arab nations 
  • Four-day-long military confrontation earlier this month was ended with US-brokered ceasefire 
  • Nuclear-armed neighbors pounded each other with drones, missiles and artillery during the conflict

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top diplomat at the United Nations, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, briefed his counterparts from Arab nations about a recent military standoff with India and said Islamabad was committed to upholding a ceasefire and taking “all necessary steps” toward de-escalation, his office said on Tuesday.

Tensions surged between India and Pakistan after New Delhi accused Pakistan of supporting an Apr. 22 militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that left 26 dead. Islamabad has denied any involvement. 

The tensions blew up into a full-on military conflict after India said it had hit “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan on May 7. What followed was four days of the two nuclear-armed neighbors pounding each other with drones, missiles and artillery, until the United States brokered a ceasefire on May 10.

“Ambassador Ahmad expressed Pakistan’s commitment to upholding the ceasefire and taking all necessary steps toward de-escalation and regional stability,” the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN said in a post on X following a meeting with Gulf nation counterparts. 

“He informed the Arab Group that Pakistan’s response to the blatant act of aggression by India was measured and proportionate, in exercise of its right to self-defense under the Charter.”

Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations and frequently accuse each other of fomenting militancy in the other’s territory.

Kashmir, divided between the two countries since their independence from Britain in 1947, has been a flashpoint for decades, with the neighbors having fought two of their three wars over the region. 

They both acquired nuclear weapons in 1998.


Pakistani delegation to visit US, Europe in diplomatic push following India standoff — minister

Pakistani delegation to visit US, Europe in diplomatic push following India standoff — minister
Updated 20 May 2025
Follow

Pakistani delegation to visit US, Europe in diplomatic push following India standoff — minister

Pakistani delegation to visit US, Europe in diplomatic push following India standoff — minister
  • PM announced last week he was setting up diplomatic team headed by Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
  • Team’s mandate is to highlight in world capitals “India’s disinformation campaign and attempts to destabilize regional peace”

ISLAMABAD: A high-level delegation set up by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to present Pakistan’s position and advocate for the country in world capitals following a recent military conflict with India will start with visits to the United States and Europe, a federal minister who is a member of the team said on Tuesday.

Sharif announced last week he was setting up the diplomatic team, which is headed by Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is a former foreign minister. 

“Our team … will visit Europe and US to represent our stance,” Climate Minister Dr. Musadik Malik, who is a member of the delegation, told a local Pakistani news channel, saying it would visit Washington, London, France and Brussels first and also Moscow at a later date. 

“We are trying that with a small team, we visit the big areas of the world who are influencers in creating an opinion for the world and also forming policies. This team’s focus will be the US and Europe.”

Last week, state media reported that the team had been set up “to highlight India’s disinformation campaign and its attempts to destabilize regional peace” as well as put the spotlight on “Pakistan’s sincere efforts for peace and stability in the region.”

The United States played a major role in de-escalating the worst fighting in decades between the two nuclear-armed South Asian rivals, who fired missiles and drones onto each other’s territory and fought with gunfire on their de facto border following weeks of tensions after a deadly April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on Islamabad. 

Pakistan denies involvement.


Pakistani deputy PM in Beijing in aftermath of worst standoff in years with India

Pakistani deputy PM in Beijing in aftermath of worst standoff in years with India
Updated 20 May 2025
Follow

Pakistani deputy PM in Beijing in aftermath of worst standoff in years with India

Pakistani deputy PM in Beijing in aftermath of worst standoff in years with India
  • Dar’s visit comes as Pakistan Air Force has hailed the use of Chinese J-10Cs to shoot down six Indian fighter jets
  • India and China are competing regional giants and nuclear powers and widely seen as long-term strategic rivals

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar began meetings today, Tuesday, with Chinese officials during a three-day visit to Beijing to discuss “the evolving regional situation in South Asia and its implications for peace and stability,” the foreign office said.

The Beijing visit comes as the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has hailed the use of Chinese J-10Cs to shoot down six Indian fighter jets, including three French Rafales, during a flare-up in hostilities that saw the nuclear-armed neighbors pound each other with missiles, drones and artillery for four days until the United States brokered a ceasefire earlier this month. 

For China, Pakistan is a strategic and economic ally. It is investing over $60 billion to build infrastructure, energy and other projects in Pakistan as part of its China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. 

India and China, on the other hand, are competing regional giants and nuclear powers and widely seen as long-term strategic rivals, sharing a 3,800 Himalayan border that has been disputed since the 1950s and sparked a brief war in 1962. The most recent standoff — that started in 2020 — thawed in October as the two sides struck a patrolling agreement.

Starting a day of meetings on Tuesday, Dar, who is also the foreign minister of Pakistan, met with the Minister of International Department of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC), Liu Jianchao.

“The DPM/FM appreciated China’s firm support to Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and issues of its core interest,” the foreign office said in a statement. 

“Liu reiterated that as All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partner and ironclad friend, China would continue to prioritize its relations with Pakistan.”

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar (fouth from right) meets with the Minister of International Department of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC), Liu Jianchao, in Beijing on May 19, 2025. (Government of Pakistan)

In an earlier statement, the foreign office in Islamabad said Dar would discuss with Chinese leaders “the evolving regional situation in South Asia and its implications for peace and stability.”

“The two sides will also review the entire spectrum of Pakistan-China bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest,” the statement added.

The conflict between India and Pakistan has offered the world a first real glimpse into how advanced Chinese military technology performs against proven Western hardware and Chinese defense stocks have already been surging as a result. 

A rising military superpower, China hasn’t fought a major war in more than four decades but has raced under President Xi Jinping to modernize its armed forces, pouring resources into developing sophisticated weaponry and cutting-edge technologies.

It has also extended that modernization drive to Pakistan, long hailed by Beijing as its “ironclad brother.”

Over the past five years, China has supplied 81 percent of Pakistan’s imported weapons, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Those exports include advanced fighter jets, missiles, radars and air-defense systems. Some Pakistan-made weapons have also been co-developed with Chinese firms or built with Chinese technology and expertise.


Pakistan regulator unveils new measures to strengthen Shariah-compliant market intermediaries

Pakistan regulator unveils new measures to strengthen Shariah-compliant market intermediaries
Updated 20 May 2025
Follow

Pakistan regulator unveils new measures to strengthen Shariah-compliant market intermediaries

Pakistan regulator unveils new measures to strengthen Shariah-compliant market intermediaries
  • SECP has outlined phased approach encouraging institutional investors to engage with Shariah-compliant brokers
  • Islamic financial institutions being urged to channel takaful, investment activities through specialized intermediaries

KARACHI: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) is proposing new measures aimed at strengthening the presence and operations of Shariah-compliant intermediaries within the capital market, the regulator said in a statement this week.

Pakistan’s Federal Shariat Court (FSC) directed the government in April 2022 to eliminate interest and align the country’s entire banking system with Islamic principles by 2027. Following the order, the government and the State Bank have taken several measures ranging from changing laws to issuing sukuk bonds to replace interest-based treasury bills and investment bonds.

However, documents seen by Arab News earlier this year showed Pakistan’s government had failed to achieve a target set by the central bank to increase the share of Islamic banking deposits in the country by 50 percent by January this year.

“The paper proposes a phase-wise approach for Shariah-compliant institutional investors to route their business through Shariah-compliant brokers based on a plan to be prepared by their respective boards of directors,” the SECP said about the latest proposal. 

“The paper encourages Islamic financial institutions, including providers of Islamic window services, to utilize Shariah-compliant intermediaries for takaful and investment purposes in situations where they are not obligated to do so.”
 
Other proposed measures include creating a specific category for Shariah-compliant intermediaries for greater visibility on the Centralized Gateway Portal and a dedicated list of Shariah-compliant asset management companies on EMLAAK Financials, Pakistan’s first digital mutual fund aggregator. The platform brings together multiple Asset Management Companies (AMCs) and their mutual funds under one roof. It is a venture of ITMinds Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Central Depository Company of Pakistan (CDC).

In order to facilitate Roshan Digital Account (RDA) clients, creating a separate category of Shariah-compliant intermediaries on the websites and mobile apps of Islamic banks would also be explored in coordination with relevant stakeholders, the SECP said.