Imran Khan seeks nation’s cooperation to end debt trap

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the nation to declare assets before the end of this month in order to steer the country out of economic crisis.

In a message that was broadcast on national TV and radio on Friday evening, PM Khan sought help from people in checking tax evasion.

“Unless the public and the government cooperate with each other, the debt trap will not end,” he warned.

The PM said the asset declaration scheme gives people a golden chance to declare their assets by 30th of this month.

He said people can declare their stashed wealth within and abroad, dollars, gold, benami accounts and other assets by availing this scheme.

The PM said national debt increased from 6,000 billion rupees to 30,000 billion rupees in last ten years due to which half of the revenue collected last year was spent on payment of the interest on these loans.

The Prime Minister said “we are stuck in debt trap, which means we are taking more loans in order to pay the interest on previous loans.”

“We have got here due to corruption and tax evasion.”

The PM said 5500 billion rupees are needed to be collected in taxes for the next year.

“Pakistanis are a generous nation and they have a history of contributing massively in national calamities whether it is 2005 earthquake, 2010 floods or any other disaster.”

He said if the nation decides, a sum of 8000 billion rupees can be collected each year which can help overcome our difficulties.

“This can help us stand on our feet and lift the people out of poverty trap. We can also improve the future of our children.”

Imran Khan said the FBR has complete data of all assets of the people and people can check their data on tax authority’s website.