Dar calls for Charter of Economy to develop Paki

LAHORE: Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar on Saturday called for formulation and implementation of a Charter of Economy to develop y Pakistan at all levels.Talking to media men at MoU signing ceremony between Sheikh Zayed Hospital Complex and University of Health Science (UHS), he also underscored the need to separate politics from economic affairs and said every one in his domain must focus and contribute towards economic well being of the country.Ishaq Dar said ‘Voluntary Tax Compliance Scheme (VTCS commonly known as tax amnesty scheme) was not aimed to allow people to whiten their black money, wealth, assets or jewellery but to facilitate the non filers.He said so far only 10,000 new filers had used this facility and called for more efforts to remove fears and apprehensions of the new filers.One month extension in the deadline of the VTCS would prove very beneficial for non filers, business businessmen and tax revenue generation, he said.The Federal Minister said that National Price Monitoring Committee was entrusted to assess the impact on prices of overall commodities in the wake of fluctuation in the prices of POL (petroleum oil and lubricants).The committee he added monitored the implementation of prices in the country while the government had also set up model special and Sunday bazaars in KPK Punjab and Sindh which ensured a great relief to the common man in terms of reduced prices of commodities.’Replying ‘a query, Ishaq Dar said that government had succeeded to convince the opposition parties and remove their reservations over the issue of PIA, ‘asserting that PIA amendment bill would be passed in joint session of the Senate and National Assembly to be held on April 11th.’None of the PIA s hotels or assets was being sold out but the government wanted to correct the core business of the PIA to turn it into a profitable entity’, he said.The Federal Minister said that Pakistan had made the LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) import deal with Qatar at a very low price and it would be contributing to the country s energy needs.About the appointment of OGRA Chairman, Ishaq Dar, said that an 11 member committee headed by him had been constituted and it also included Federal Petroleum Minister and the Cabinet Secretary.