ISLAMABAD: Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Sheikh on Wednesday said merely 12 percent population of the country was paying taxes.

“Pakistan is going through a difficult phase. The government inherited a debt of Rs31, 000 billion from past regimes. Only 12 percent population in the country is paying taxes,” Abdul Hafeez Sheikh relayed in a post-budget press conference in Islamabad. He was flanked by Planning Minister Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar and Minister of State for Finance Hammad Azhar.

He said the government was taking fresh loans only to pay interest of the loans taken by the previous governments.

The adviser on finance said the fat cats needed to show support to the country by paying more taxes.

He warned that legal action would be taken against non-filers. He also said the increase in rate of tax may offend some people.

On the budget 2019-20, Hafeez Sheikh said Rs216 billion had been allocated in the budget as a subsidy for the electricity consumers using less than 300 units a month.  “This subsidy is aimed at protecting the poor electricity consumers from the rise in power prices.”