Renowned singer and philanthropist Shehzad Roy has said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif assured him that the decision to impose a 10% sales tax on books in the federal Budget 2024-25 will be reviewed.
Taking to his X handle, the singer said that he also requested the premier and Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal to reinstate the 25% tax rebate for teachers.
“They both reassured me that they will reconsider this decision with a favo[u]rable outcome,” he added.
The federal government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has set a challenging tax revenue target of Rs13 trillion (approximately $46.66 billion) for the year starting July 1, a nearly 40% jump from the current year, in its budget that looked to strengthen the case for a new bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The ambitious revenue targets for the fiscal year through June 2025, presented by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb in parliament on June 12, were in line with analyst expectations. Total spending was Rs18.87 trillion ($68 billion).
Key objectives for the upcoming fiscal year include bringing the public debt-to-GDP ratio to sustainable levels and prioritising improvements in Pakistan’s balance of payments position, the government’s budget document showed.
The government has projected a sharp drop in its fiscal deficit for the new financial year to 5.9% of the GDP, from an upwardly revised estimate of 7.4% for the current year.
