Staff Correspondent:

Stating that a highly realistic Annual Development Programme (ADP) will be adopted in the next fiscal year’s budget, Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed said the government will not implement the budget by borrowing from banks or printing money.

“We will not undertake big mega projects through borrowing,” he told reporters after a meeting of the Advisory Council Committee on Government Purchase (ACCGP) at the Secretariat on Tuesday (May 13).

THE FINANCE ADVISER CHAIRED THE MEETING

Asked whether the dissolution of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) into two divisions would have any impact on revenue collection, he said, “There will be no impact on revenue collection. So far, revenue collection has already increased by 2% compared to the last year. It’s not very disappointing, but I’m expecting more. At least it won’t be less than last time.”

Salehuddin said, “We will implement the budget reasonably, not with a huge gap. We will implement projects and ADP on extremely realistic grounds. We won’t do these with big mega projects by borrowing and creating deficits. We won’t implement the budget by borrowing from banks or printing money.”

“There will be some deficit. To fill that, I’m negotiating. We’re talking about projects with the IMF and the World Bank. The discussions so far are quite successful,” he added.

When asked about the division of NBR ignoring the customs tax cadres officials’ opinions, the finance adviser said, “Read the ordinance carefully. Their interests are fully protected. There will be a policy division. It’s a tiny division. Therefore, there’s no reason for NBR to worry. NBR will remain, as it exists with some terms of reference.”

“This is international practice – the policy and implementation divisions don’t stay together. They are separate in all countries,” he added.

“The policy division needs to work with professional people. They need to understand economics, statistics, and the country’s GDP. What NBR will do is implement the policies. Now, if NBR does policy too, there’s a conflict of interest as their job is only to collect. As if I am making the policy and collecting through people by implementing that policy,” he added.

Mentioning that the division has been done with great consideration, Salehuddin said, “It’s not that we haven’t talked with them. If you think I need to talk with thousands of NBR people, that’s not the case. I’ve talked with members. On the other hand, administration people had some comments as well. So we discussed it with them.”