Pakistan’s Economy Moving Towards Greater Transparency and Sustainable Development

Islamabad: Pakistan's economy is moving towards greater transparency and sustainable development under the zero-tolerance policy adopted by the government with the support of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC). According to Radio Pakistan, strict and decisive actions were taken against corruption, smuggling, and tax evasion during the second year of SIFC. A track and trace system was implemented in the cement, tobacco, fertilizer, and sugar industries. This initiative has resulted in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collecting 1.114 trillion rupees in taxes in March this year, surpassing last year's 841 billion rupees for the same month. The enforcement of the zero-tolerance policy has led to continuous revenue growth and an improvement in the tax-to-GDP ratio. During the anti-smuggling campaign, the authorities seized 23 million litres of Iranian oil, 10,447 metric tons of fertilizer, and 3,547 tons of wheat and flour. Effective actions were also taken against hoarding, resulting in th e recovery of thousands of metric tons of fertilizer, ghee, and sugar.