In its proposals ahead of the budget 2024–25, the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce (OICCI) has advocated for a ban on Rs. 5,000 banknotes in order to stop the circulation of cash.
This suggestion was made by the body to the government in advance of the next budget. The formal date has not yet been announced, but the administration plans to submit the budget for the fiscal year 2024–25 on June 7.
The OICCI, an organization that represents foreign investors and is made up of 200 multinational corporations, has also proposed requiring the national tax number (NTN) for bank account openings, car purchases and sales, the sale of pricey real estate, international travel, and club memberships.
In addition, OICCI recommended eliminating the pensioners’ exemption and establishing a Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) branch to look into assets and income sources that do not meet non-filer rules.
The OICCI also recommended imposing withholding taxes on lodging and travel expenses, as well as collecting income tax on all airline tickets.
It should be noted that there have previously been calls for the discontinuation of the Rs5,000 banknote. Last year, Mohsin Aziz, a senator from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), introduced a resolution in the Upper House of Parliament calling for the ban of the highest denomination of Pakistani currency in order to “end corruption and rein in inflation.”
Former FBR head Shabbar Zaidi stated earlier in September 2023 that restricting the physical flow of dollars and doing away with Rs5,000 notes would be essential to reducing the country’s cash economy.
Zaidi believed that there was a lot of money in circulation in Pakistan and that the Rs. 5,000 note made things easier in the cash economy. He also mentioned that people had been storing money in their lockers in dollars and Rs. 5,000 notes.
