Islamabad: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday said Pakistan’s remittance inflows are expected to reach between USD 41 billion and USD 42 billion during the current fiscal year, while announcing that artificial intelligence (AI) will play a central role in the country’s new tax administration model.
Addressing the second edition of the Pakistan Banking Summit 2026 in Islamabad, the finance minister said the country’s current account remained strong due to record remittance inflows and expressed confidence that foreign exchange reserves would close the fiscal year at around USD 18.4 billion, exceeding earlier estimates.
Aurangzeb said the previous fiscal year ended on a positive note, citing a primary surplus, the lowest fiscal deficit on record, a debt-to-GDP ratio below 70%, and GDP growth of 3.7%, supported by a rebound in large-scale manufacturing.
He said exports had remained resilient despite a decline in food exports, adding that value-added textile exports continued to post year-on-year growth.
Highlighting tax reforms, the minister said Parliament had approved a new tax administration operating model designed to minimise human intervention. Under the AI- and technology-led system, tax notices will be generated electronically as part of efforts to improve transparency and efficiency.
Aurangzeb said this year’s federal budget was prepared for the first time under the leadership of the Tax Policy Office after its transfer to the Finance Division. He said the government had focused on promoting export-led growth through measures including the removal of advance tax and super tax, subsidised financing and continuation of tariff reforms.
The minister also said the government would introduce a medium-term tax strategy and continue efforts to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises, exporters, agriculture, manufacturing, construction and the information technology sector.
Referring to external financing, Aurangzeb said Pakistan was working to access international capital markets, including through a planned Panda Bond, describing it as an important step towards tapping China’s capital market.
He said the government had made progress in stabilising the economy but acknowledged that significant work remained to achieve sustainable long-term growth.
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