Amnesty scheme brought to light people not in system: Abdul Hafeez Sheikh

ISLAMABAD: The prime minister's finance adviser said Thursday the amnesty scheme — alternatively the Assets Declaration Scheme 2019 — brought to light the people who were not in the system earlier.

Addressing a press conference here in the federal capital, Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, the adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Finance, highlighted that some 137,000 people were registered via the amnesty scheme.

"People who were not in the system earlier were brought to light," Sheikh said.

"The purpose of the Assets Declaration Scheme 2019 was to bring people into the tax net in order to increase the number of people who pay taxes.

"That makes it, in terms of numbers, the scheme that registered the highest number of people," he added.

Taxes paid totalled Rs70 billion, he explained, noting that a large number of those who contributed to this sum were those who were previously non-filers.

"To date, assets worth almost Rs3 trillion have been declared," the adviser said. "Our attempt now would be to take a step further and achieve the Rs5.5-trillion target."

With regard to the three-year, $6-billion bailout package that the International Monetary Fund approved for Pakistan on Wednesday, Sheikh said it was called an extended fund facility and it can be returned in 10 years.

However, "the IMF's package is for three years", he noted, adding that Pakistan would "receive $2 billion annually, whereas $1 billion would come in by July 8".

The global financial body's decision was important, the adviser said, and international institutions would be satisfied that Pakistan was provided support.

"We will make difficult decisions but we will protect the weaker class," he added.

Sheikh said Pakistan had approached the IMF in the past but that that did not prove to be long-lasting. "Now, it is up to us to determine how to benefit from this aid," he said.

"What was agreed upon will soon be revealed," he added.

With regard to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), he said more independence was given to the central monetary authority so that it can emerge as an international bank.