Finance Minister vows energy sector reforms, tax base expansion

Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said Tuesday that reforming the energy sector is a top policy priority, with measures underway to improve affordability, ensure reliability and transition to a more efficient pricing structure.

Aurangzeb made the remarks during a meeting with a delegation from the All Pakistan Ceramic Tiles Manufacturers Association (APCTMA), led by Abdul Rehman Talat, executive director of Orient Ceramica, at the Finance Division.

He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to improving the ease of doing business by simplifying regulations, reducing compliance burdens and ensuring policy stability to attract investment.

The minister also stressed the need to broaden the tax base to achieve fiscal balance, vowing to shift the tax burden away from the formal sector and salaried class toward undocumented or under-taxed segments of the economy. He noted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is personally overseeing high-level meetings to advance reforms promoting transparency and economic equity.

The APCTMA delegation presented an industry brief, highlighting that Pakistan’s tile manufacturing capacity has reached 560,000 square meters per day, supported by over 100 billion Pakistani rupees ($360 million) in investments — 60% of which is foreign direct investment from China.

The sector has cut its import dependency from 74% to 4% through localization efforts and aims to reduce it further to 1%, relying almost entirely on domestic raw materials and labor.

Aurangzeb praised the industry’s progress in import substitution and job creation, stating, “Industries like ceramics demonstrate that with the right policy support, Pakistani manufacturing can match international standards.”