$200m more approved for FBR

The Express Tribune reported that a further $200 million foreign loan for reforming the Federal Board of Revenue has moved closer to approval. The Central Development Working Party recommended the TADRA project, valued at Rs57.1 billion, equal to $200 million, and the Ministry of Planning announced this on Friday. The proposal has since been passed to ECNEC, the National Economic Council's executive panel, for review.

The project is to be funded by an ADB loan, with Rs22.5 billion, or $81 million, set aside for consultancy services over five years and another $10 million for project management. Repayment will take 25 years at an interest rate of 1.5% to 2.0% per annum. Once the fresh lending is counted, the total would climb to $4.9 billion from about $4.7 billion previously obtained.

The Express Tribune noted that the tax machinery has missed its targets for the last two fiscal years, while the tax-to-GDP ratio held flat at 10.3% during fiscal 2025-26. The Planning Commission called the project's targets generic and asked the FBR for an impact assessment of earlier reform projects, while Deputy Chairman Ahsan Iqbal stressed measurable outcomes. The FBR has committed to lifting active taxpayers from seven million to 12 million and the tax-to-GDP ratio to 13.5%.