Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has approved the creation of a modern, globally competitive digital ecosystem for the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and has directed authorities to hire globally renowned experts in this regard.
The development came during a high-level meeting held to review progress on FBR reforms in Islamabad on Saturday, read a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The meeting was briefed on the progress regarding the integration of FBR’s data into a centralised system and the development of a modern digital ecosystem for real-time monitoring of the entire value chain.
PM Shehbaz lauds FBR reforms as tax filers jump to 7.2mn
Chairing the meeting, the prime minister expressed that due to the ongoing reforms in FBR, the economy is moving in a positive direction.
“It’s not just about digitization — a complete digital ecosystem should be developed to support the new system,” the PM was quoted as saying.
The prime minister said that all data — from raw material production and imports to manufacturing and end-user purchase — should be integrated into a single system, which must be made efficient enough to enable direct digital monitoring of the entire value chain.
The centralised data collected under this system should be used for strategic economic decision-making, he said.
During the meeting, PM Shehbaz maintained that the government’s goal of reducing tax burden on the common man can only be achieved by expanding the tax base and eliminating the informal economy.
Federal Ministers, including Muhammad Aurangzeb, Ahsan Iqbal, Minister of State Bilal Azhar Kayani, Chairman FBR, Chief Coordinator Musharraf Zaidi, economic experts, and other senior officials attended the meeting.
