No living without paying taxes, People have to pay taxes: Finance Minister

ISLAMABAD, April 24: Finance Minister Mohammad Aurngzeb has said that the country's economy is on the right track, but people will have to pay taxes. He said that "there is no living without paying taxes now."
Finance Minister was responding to speeches on interest-based banking during a debate on the national economic situation in the National Assembly. He said that he did not understand why there were so many emotional speeches on the issue in the House.
"The Shariat Court has given a decision in this regard and it is being implemented," he said. "Many bank branches have already switched to this system, while the implementation time is five years and we are moving in that direction."
The finance minister said that many bank branches had been converted to Islamic banking, and that the process of phasing out the interest-based system was underway in phases. He said that the Islamic Shariat Court had given a time frame for the elimination of interest.
He said that the country's foreign exchange reserves were stable, the stock market was at an all-time high, and all countries wanted Pakistan's economic success.
"We have had talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank," he said. "Agricultural GDP is growing at 5 percent, and it is up to us to decide how to facilitate agriculture and IT."
The minister said that software exports would reach $3.3 billion this year. "I want to tell the House that the people will have to pay taxes," he said. "There is no living without paying taxes now."
He said that the country's stock exchanges were at an all-time high and that the economy was on the right track, but that the dairy and livestock sectors needed improvement.
He said that the current account deficit had turned into a surplus, that the tax-to-GDP ratio could not be run at 10 percent, and that IT exports had seen a significant increase.
He said that structural reforms and a widening of the tax net would be needed to exit the IMF program and that the government could no longer bear the burden of loss-making entities. He said that friendly countries wanted Pakistan's economy to be stable.
Earlier, MQM-Pakistan MNAs Mustafa Kamal, Asya Ishaq, and Hassan Sabir moved a motion for a debate on the economic situation.
Kamal said that Article 38F of the Constitution states that the interest-based system should be abolished. "It has been 51 years since the Constitution was made, but interest has not been abolished," he said. "This is open war against Allah and His Messenger."
He said that President Asif Ali Zardari had talked about the Day of Judgment at a meeting and had talked about meeting Bhutto. "Mr. Zardari, you should also use your power to raise the issue of the interest-based system and protect the Bhutto Constitution," he said.
PTI MNA Ali Muhammad Khan, speaking on the national economic situation, said that he supported the stance taken by Mustafa Kamal on the interest-based system.
"Today, Mustafa Bhai has raised an excellent point in keeping with his name," he said. "It is clearly written in the Quran that interest is tantamount to war with Allah. The State Bank of Pakistan should also play its role in this matter."
He said that the State Bank and the Ministry of Finance should put forward the statement of Quaid-e-Azam in this regard and that the House should form a special committee on the interest-based system.