Tag: Shabbar Zaidi

  • Shabbar Zaidi says Pakistan would have economically collapsed had Imran Khan govt continued

    Shabbar Zaidi says Pakistan would have economically collapsed had Imran Khan govt continued

    The economic performance of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has been criticised by Shabbar Zaidi, one of its own highest ranking officials.

    In an interview with Geo News’ Shahzeb Khanzada, Zaidi said that Pakistan would have economically collapsed had the PTI government continued.

    “Had this […] government continued, the party would not have even secured 5% votes as the country would have economically collapsed,” the former Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) head, appointed with much fanfare at the time by Imran Khan, said on the show.

    Accusing the then-Prime Minister of not “listening” to anyone who was offering advice to rectify the government’s shortcomings, Zaidi said that Imran Khan did remove Asad Umar as Finance Minister when told of the government’s poor performance.

    He narrated an incident where 40 parliamentarians, led by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, barged into his office after he “mistakenly” sent a tax notice to a landlord in Multan.

    He also accused Asad Qaiser, the former Speaker of the National Assembly of preventing the tobacco industry in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from being brought into the tax net.

    “You cannot do this…you cannot enter our areas,” Qaiser told Zaidi.

    Shabbar Zaidi was the head of FBR from 2019 till 2020.

  • Real estate in Pakistan is ‘parking lot’ for untaxed money with support of DHAs and Army, says former FBR chairman

    Real estate in Pakistan is ‘parking lot’ for untaxed money with support of DHAs and Army, says former FBR chairman

    Shabbar Zaidi, the former Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue in Pakistan, stated that only 300 companies out of the entire business sector in the country pay 70 per cent of the total taxes collected.

    According to Dawn, Zaidi dismissed the claims of some businesses that there were too many taxes in Pakistan and no dividends. He pointed out that the real estate was the “parking lot” of untaxed money, and that with the support of the DHAs and army, a system had been developed to officially launder money through real estate, which had perpetual amnesty in the country.

    He called for removing DHAs from the real estate business as there could not be fair competition between a state institution and private businesses in real estate, and also suggested that plots of land should be confiscated if construction was not done on them.

    Kashif Anwar, the president of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, argued in favor of amnesty on undeclared foreign reserves to bring money back to the country.

    In another session, Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, the former Chief Justice of Pakistan, acknowledged that criticism of the Supreme Court for messing up big corporate cases was justified as the judges were not expert at finance and economics.

    Jillani suggested the formation of commercial benches in the SC and high court for such cases. In a session on local governments, Ammar Ali Jan, the general secretary of Haqooq-i-Khalq Party, criticized the absence of local government in the country, citing examples of polluted water and waste management issues.

  • ‘Pakistan is bankrupt’: Former FBR Chairman Shabbar Zaidi

    ‘Pakistan is bankrupt’: Former FBR Chairman Shabbar Zaidi

    Former FBR Chairman Shabbar Zaidi, while speaking on Pakistan’s economic condition at Hamdard University, said on Thursday that Pakistan is bankrupt at the moment and that the country was not in a state of “going concern” — an accounting terminology referring to a business that is operating and making a profit.

    “We keep saying that everything is good, the country is running well, we have achieved great success and we brought tabdeeli (change) but this is wrong,” said Zaidi.

    “It is better if you decide first that we have reached bankruptcy and we have to move forward compared to saying everything is running well and I will do this and that. These are all things to deceive the people,” Zaidi said.

    After receiving a lot of backlash, Zaidi tweeted, “My speech in Hamdard University is being misreported. There was a presentation of half & hour. Only three minutes have been cherry-picked.”

    “Yes I said that with this constant current account & fiscal deficit there are issues of bankruptcy & going concern but look at the solution,” tweeted Zaidi.

    Zaidi further wrote, “What I said was with a basis & conviction. I only want to say that whole speech is to read and listened.”

  • FBR chief replaced again

    FBR chief replaced again

    The federal government has removed Nausheen Amjad from the post of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairperson, replacing her with Javed Ghani.

    Amjad, a BS-22 officer of Inland Revenue Service (IRS), had in April been appointed as FBR chairperson after then chief Shabbar Zaidi could not continue his duties due to health conditions.

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan had handpicked Zaidi as his man to achieve the goal of collecting Rs5.5 trillion in taxes during the previous fiscal year and Rs8 trillion by the end of his term.

    Zaidi was good in policymaking but he could not handle the FBR’s operations well. The former chairman also could not appoint competent members at the top and transferred thousands of people of low ranks without replacing the top hierarchy.

    His successor, Nausheen was the second woman to lead the organisation of 25,000 people and the fourth chairperson in the past 20 months.

    The government had approved her appointment by having the federal cabinet circulate a summary instead of bringing the matter in a regular cabinet meeting.

    Nausheen faced and her successor faces a gigantic task of stopping the nosediving tax revenues, restructuring the top FBR hierarchy and improving the tainted image of the tax machinery.

    Ghani will also have to address the issue of rampant corruption, particularly fresh reports regarding some officers receiving kickbacks from taxpayers for putting their names on the list of those who will receive tax refunds on a priority basis under the PM’s COVID-19 relief package, and achieve targets set by the government in the new budget.

  • Indefinite leave for FBR chief Shabbar Zaidi

    Indefinite leave for FBR chief Shabbar Zaidi

    Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Shabbar Zaidi is on indefinite leave and has not joined the office, sending an application in this regard to Advisor on Finance to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, The Express Tribune reported.

    Read more: Imran’s ‘blue-eyed’ Shabbar Zaidi resigns as FBR chairman?

    The FBR chief is sick since January 9, has excused himself from working, and also informed the PM in this regard, reports said.

    Zaidi’s leave had expired on February 14, and he was supposed to join office on Feb 17, but did not. In his absence, FBR Acting Chairman Nausheen Javed Amjad has been handling the affairs of the bureau. 

    Read more: Pakistan has a cure for coronavirus and Chinese can’t stop thanking for it

    According to the report, Zaidi said that his health was not good and he would follow his doctors’ advice.

    On the other hand, the PM’s aide on finance said that if Zaidi could not continue with his work as the FBR chairman owing to ill-health, a new chairman would be appointed after consultations.

  • Imran’s ‘blue-eyed’ Shabbar Zaidi resigns as FBR chairman?

    Imran’s ‘blue-eyed’ Shabbar Zaidi resigns as FBR chairman?

    In a rather expected development, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Syed Shabbar Zaidi on Tuesday resigned from the post, a private media outlet claimed.

    A prominent chartered accountant and former caretaker provincial minister for Sindh, Zaidi was named by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan in May last year as his choice for the new FBR chief.

    Adviser to the PM on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh had last week hinted that the federal government may change the FBR chief if his health did not improve any time soon.

    Shaikh, in an interview with a private news channel, had shared that the government may decide to change the FBR chairman if he did not recover quickly as the government also planned to introduce a mini-budget.

    “The FBR chairman is ill and we hope he recovers quickly,” Shaikh had said. His statement had come weeks after Zaidi had sought an indefinite period of leave from his official duties on grounds of poor health.

    Earlier, Zaidi had gone on sick leave from January 6 to January 19. This had led to rumours that there was a rift in the government’s economic team. However, those rumours were rejected by the FBR.

    Meanwhile, another media outlet has rubbished the claims regarding Zaidi’s resignation.

    “I am not resigning from my post as chairman FBR. I have just not been performing my duties due to my health,” Zaidi told Geo News.