PM lauds SBP, NCOC for effective response in COVID
Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday commended the performance of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Ehsaas team for their effective and coordinated response during the COVID-19 pandemic, which gained a recognition by UK-based 'The Economist' in its report.
The prime minister in a tweet appreciated the three departments of the government and expressed gratitude to Allah Almighty for His blessings.
"Congratulations to NCOC members, Ehsaas team & State Bank of Pakistan for effective response to COVID-19 pandemic; and above all thanks to the mercy of Almighty Allah," he tweeted.
In its Global Normalcy Index, The Economist magazine had ranked Pakistan at number three out of 50 countries that performed well in controlling the COVID-19 spread.
The report showed that Pakistan's neighbours, India and China, were ranked 48 and 19 with scores of 46.5 and 72.9 respectively. The US stood at 20th in the ranking.
The Economist's 'normalcy index' focuses on how better the countries are returning to their pre-pandemic levels, by grading each country using eight indicators: Time not at home, retail, office use, public transport, road traffic, flights, cinema and sports attendance.
According to the report, a rise was witnessed in the global normalcy during March 2020 due to several countries imposing lockdowns. With 100 set as the pre-pandemic level of activity, Pakistan ranked third with 84.4 out of 100. While Hong Kong topped the list with a ranking of 96.3 while New Zealand was ranked in second with 87.8.
In the category of 'office use', 'retail', 'public transport' and 'time not spent at home', Pakistan ranked over 100. However, the categories of 'cinema' and 'flights' witnesses a low score. The Excise and Taxation (E&T) Department Islamabad has amassed Rs.11.2 billion tax during fiscal year
2020-21 against set target of Rs. 5.8 billion, registering around 80 per cent increase in revenue collection as compared to last three years.
Of the total Rs.11.2 billion collection, the excise revenue was Rs.7.98 billion with inclusion of Rs. 3.2 billion Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) tax, said Director Excise, Bilal Azam on Wednesday.
Sharing details of tax collection of last three years, Azam told APP that the department had collected Rs.6.3 billion during fiscal year 2017-18, Rs.6.5 billion in 2018-19 while the collection reached Rs.8.7 billion in 2019-20.
"The department had beaten all records of previous years and thanks to efforts of concerned excise department employees to meet the set enhanced targets," he remarked.
Giving further details, he said reforms in tax collection by department led to increase in revenue, following directions of Chief Commissioner, Islamabad, Amir Ali Ahmed to ease tax payment process for Capital's residents, he added.
Bilal Azam said the Department had introduced new methods for tax collection including online payment system, registration and transfer fee through integrated credit cards, bank accounts and other digital means which ultimately helped in increasing revenue collection.