ISLAMABAD: Newly appointed Adviser to the Prime Minister on Economic Affairs Dr Miftah Ismail has said it is his first priority to lower individual taxes and extend the tax net.
Ismail was named adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs with the status of Federal Minister by the Cabinet Division.
The new minister told media he will make it his priority to refund the industrial sector and document the economy, along with lowering individual taxes and extending the tax net.
He said the current account deficit has increased and the government is trying to reduce it during the ongoing year. But the economic situation of the country is much better as compared to the past when the PML-N came to power in 2013, he pointed out.
Exports are increasing and imports have decreased from last five months due to concrete steps taken by the government, he said.
Following his appointment, Ismail posted on Twitter, “Although I will have stewardship of the Ministry of Finance for only 5 months, the prime minister has tasked me to help him implement a very ambitious agenda,” referring to general elections due next year.
Born in Karachi, Ismail received his B.S. from Duquesne University in business studies in 1985, followed by a PhD in public finance and political economy from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, in 1990. He worked with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as an economist based in Washington DC in early 1990s.
