As Pakistan’s economy faces the threat of a deepening financial crisis, alarming contradictions in governance continue to emerge, especially within the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). While the nation struggles to stabilize its economic foundation and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) highlights a projected revenue shortfall of Rs1 trillion, senior FBR officials have been reportedly celebrating by distributing hefty honorariums among themselves.
Sources reveal that honorariums reaching up to Rs2.5 million per officer have been handed out, totaling over Rs1.2 billion in public funds ironically during a time of fiscal austerity and unmet revenue goals. This disbursement was done not based on measurable performance but seemingly due to internal influence and authority, sidelining lower-level employees and raising serious concerns about internal equity and fiscal discipline.
The IMF has strongly criticized Pakistan’s current revenue targets as unrealistic, echoing past trends where aggressive tax proposals failed to yield results. Despite imposing new taxes worth Rs1.3 trillion last year, the government fell short of its Rs1.27 trillion collection goal. Promises of improved digitization, anti-smuggling measures, and expanded check posts have so far remained largely symbolic, as actual collections remain stagnant. A bold claim by the FBR to collect Rs150 billion from court decisions during March and April fell flat, with only Rs34 billion materializing highlighting the widening gap between declarations and results.
Despite these glaring failures, senior FBR officers continue to enjoy promotions and rewards. In some cases, officers posted on deputation to other departments were also promoted, indicating a system that appears to reward hierarchy and influence over merit and results. In parallel, international lenders such as the IMF and the World Bank are pushing for immediate and credible tax reforms.
The IMF has called for either the introduction of new taxation or serious efforts to extract more revenue from existing avenues. World Bank experts have now been brought in to scrutinize the tax infrastructure, underlining the growing mistrust in local capacity to fix its own fiscal challenges.
Meanwhile, the government’s reliance on ill-conceived schemes such as the Trader-Friendly Initiative and its soft approach towards powerful wholesaler and distributor lobbies expose both a lack of political will and administrative competence. These policies have repeatedly failed to expand the tax base or ensure meaningful compliance, and the perception is spreading among the public that the burden of the economic crisis continues to fall on ordinary taxpayers, while a privileged few benefit from a deeply flawed system.
The situation is no longer tenable. Without real accountability and structural reforms within the FBR, any attempt to stabilize or grow Pakistan’s economy will remain compromised. The blatant misuse of public funds, failure to meet targets, and the continued reward of inefficiency are not just symptoms of mismanagement—they are warnings of a ship sinking under the weight of its own contradictions.
