ISLAMABAD: The Senate was informed on Friday that said the government has decided to privatize the core operations to revive the loss-making Pakistan Steel Mills.
Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar informed the house that the losses of state-owned enterprises surpassed the annual defense budget due to the regressive policies of previous governments.
He said the previous governments failed to revive or privatize Pakistan Steel Mills and the debt stay remain at Rs230 billion. He clarified that only the core operations of the steel mills will be privatized.
Yesterday, Hammad Azhar addressed a press conference stating announcing the decision to and said fifteen parties have shown their interest in buying the enterprise.
The minister said that about 9000 employees will be relieved in two phases after payment of their retirement dues and one month salary. An amount of Rs20 billion will be spent on this package and each employee will receive Rs2.3 million on average.
Azhar expressed his dismay over political point-scoring by the opposition parties on the matter and reminded that it was in their regime that Pakistan Steel Mills became a loss-making entity and was shut. He regretted that no effort was made by the previous governments to revive the organisation, rather its debts have surpassed Rs200 billion.
Number of taxpayers increased to 2.6 million
The federal minister said the number of tax filers has increased from 1.6 million to 2.6 million in a period of one year as a result of steps taken by the present government.
Responding to a question, the minister informed the house that tax collection witnessed 27 percent growth before the breakout of Covid-19. He said the post-pandemic situation has seen 37 percent decline in tax collection. However, he expressed confidence that the situation will improve as the business activities are being resumed.
The minister said databases are being used to improve the tax collection. He said the government plans to phase out import-based duties and focus on domestic taxation.
Hammad Azhar said the government gave a stimulus package of Rs1200 billion rupees to support different segments of the society including the poor and the businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the initiatives have helped reduce the inflation rate from twelve percent to eight percent. He said the government has also reduced petroleum prices which are currently the lowest in the South Asian region.
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