Finance Minister Asad Umar says government has started the first phase of giving relief to the people and bringing reforms to achieve economic stability.

Talking to a group of anchorpersons in Islamabad today, he said consultations were held with stakeholders to devise a course of action and difficult decisions had to be taken.

The Finance Minister said the purpose of reforms package is to increase investment in the country. He said taxes will be on profit earned and not on investment.

Asad Umar said financial package has been given to increase the capacity of local industry.

Underpinning the role of private sector for development of national economy, he said private sector is being encouraged for employment creation, and increasing the revenue and exports. He hoped that targets set in Finance Bill will be achieved by September this year.

The Minister said real issues in the public sector institutions are of governance.

He said industry and agriculture have been given incentives in financial package. He said tax on filers has been abolished while it has been increased on non-filers by fifty per cent.

He said the number of filers has increased to 1.45 million from 1.1 million. On a question, he said government is in contact with IMF and scheduled consultations are being held.

He said PSM will be enabled to stand on its feet and its production capacity will be enhanced to three million tons.