Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) on Monday released the provisional collection data for the recent month of May, and according to it, the revenue collection agency surpassed its target by 7.82 percent to hit Rs386 billion in May 2021.
This according to the data is the third-highest collection in the second half of the ongoing fiscal year 2021.
It is worth mentioning that May 2021 was the third consecutive month when the revenue collection surpassed the target despite the ongoing pandemic that has slowed down the economic activity in the country.
The net collection for May was Rs386bn against a target of Rs358bn, an increase of Rs28bn. Compared to the collection of Rs229bn in May 2020, the collection saw a growth of 69 percent Year-on-Year(YoY).
The revenue collection for the 11MFY21 June 2020 to May 2021 stood at Rs4.167 trillion. This was up 4.33 percent from the target of 3.994 trillion, showing an excess collection of Rs173 billion.
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The YoY growth in the country for the 11MFY21 was 17 percent, up from 3.549 trillion collected during the same period of last fiscal year (11MFY20).
According to national media reports, FBR has crossed the 4 trillion mark for the first time after four attempts to do so, two of which were made under the incumbent government. Reportedly, the FBR had planned to cross this number in May 2018, two months prior to the current government’s ascendance to power.
It is worth noting that the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) needs to collect Rs524 billion in the ongoing month of June to reach its annual target. The collection in June would have to be an increase of 35.8 percent from the collection of 386 billion in May.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) in June 2020, during the drafting of budget for the ongoing Fiscal Year (FY21), had set the revenue collection target of Rs4.96 trillion compared to the collection in FY20 of 3.99 trillion. However, the international lending authority has revised the target down to Rs4.691 trillion.
For the next fiscal year, the IMF has proposed a revenue collection target for the FBR at Rs5.963tr as against Rs4.691tr revised target for FY21. However, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin has expressed that FBR revenue collection will reach Rs5.80tr in the financial year 2021-21, which would be Rs183 billion short of the target.
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Fawad Choudhary’s remarks
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Sunday said first time in the history of the country, a record Rs 4.143 trillion revenue had been collected by FBR during the current fiscal year June-May 2021.
The landmark achievement was made due to the prudent economic policies of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
In a series of tweets, Chaudhry Fawad said positive results of the economic policies of the incumbent government had started yielding results.
پیپلز پارٹی اور نون لیگ نے معیشت کا جو حشر کیا اس کے نتیجے میں معاشی تکلیفوں کا سامنا کرنا پڑا،ایک طویل انتظار کے بعد معاشی پالیسیوں کے مثبت نتائج سامنے آنا شروع ہو گئے ہیں ملک کی تاریخ میں پہلی بار چارہزار ارب روپے سے زیادہ ٹیکس اکٹھا ہوا، بیرون ملک پاکستانیوں نے معیشت کو
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) May 30, 2021
The minister for information & Broadcasting said, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) whenever came into power, had ruined the economy, resultantly the country endured an economic downturn.
Fawad said expatriate Pakistanis have contributed immensely to economic revival by sending over Rs 1,000 billion to the country.
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Likewise, he said, record production of wheat, rice, sugarcane, and maize have been recorded while Rs 1,100 billion had been transferred to the agriculture economy.