Islamabad, September 8, 2026 – The Europe Today: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said the government, in consultation with the business community, had introduced long-pending structural reforms over the past two and a half years, describing the process as the outcome of sustained cooperation between the government and the private sector.
Addressing a meeting with leading industrialists, businessmen and entrepreneurs, which he attended alongside the Deputy Prime Minister, the prime minister welcomed representatives of the business community and acknowledged their contribution to the country’s economic reform process.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the government had recovered Rs800 billion during the past year through enforcement measures alone, without imposing any new taxes.
He said long-pending cases in courts, including those related to indirect sales tax paid by consumers, had been actively pursued and followed up. He described the improvement in tax enforcement as unprecedented in the country’s history.
The prime minister recalled that several rounds of consultations had been held with representatives of the business community ahead of the federal budget to discuss economic challenges and policy measures. He said the Finance and Commerce ministers, along with their respective secretaries, had also held meetings with stakeholders before his own consultations with the business community.
He said recommendations presented by business leaders during previous consultations, including at difficult stages of the economic reform process, had contributed to the government’s efforts to introduce structural changes.
The prime minister described the reforms as a lengthy process that had been achieved through collective efforts and close coordination between the government and the private sector.
He said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had, for the first time, provided a relevant allowance, while the IMF Managing Director had also agreed during his interaction with the prime minister to extend a tax waiver.
Prime Minister Shehbaz emphasized that the measures had been undertaken in consultation with the business community and reaffirmed that the government would continue pursuing the reform agenda with their guidance and support.
He stressed that Pakistan’s economic growth must be export-led, saying that growth without a strong export orientation would have limited significance.
He said the government had therefore provided special tax relief to exporters in the federal budget as part of efforts to strengthen the country’s export sector.
The prime minister said the purpose of Tuesday’s meeting was to seek the business community’s views on challenges to enhancing exports and possible solutions, particularly as the country had entered the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
He called for continued collaboration between the government and the private sector to identify practical measures for increasing exports and sustaining economic growth.
