Islamabad (TDI): Appreciating Pakistan’s efforts for improving macroeconomic stability, US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome on Thursday reaffirmed his commitment for promoting high-quality US investment for economic growth of Pakistan.
He said this in a meeting with Federal Finance and Revenue Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, whom he called on, at the Finance Division.
The ambassador also lauded the government for initiating challenging and bold reforms, particularly in the taxation and energy sectors.
He reiterated the US commitment to enhancing bilateral cooperation in technical and development initiatives.
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Earlier briefing him on key reforms, the federal finance and revenue minister said that the government was committed to raising the country’s tax to GDP ratio to 13.5 per cent by plugging leakages and bringing untaxed sectors in the net.
The minister reiterated the government’s resolve to carry on with broad-based reforms on taxation, energy and SOE fronts.
He said the government under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had approved a comprehensive transformation plan for FBR and brought in experts on the Board of PRAL (IT arm of FBR).
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Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb called the macroeconomic reforms “work in progress” and pointed to more serious challenges of climate change and child stunting which threatened to perpetuate inequalities and disrupt the pace of economic growth and stability in Pakistan over the medium to long term.
He said Pakistan looked forward to building climate resilience through adaptation reforms and averting malnutrition with the technical and financial support of development partners for ensuring holistic development goals.
During the meeting, other matters of mutual interest and bilateral cooperation were also discussed.
