F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: Shabbar Zaidi has refuted speculation that he has resigned as the chairman of the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR).
Mr Zaidi, while responding to the matter immediately on Tuesday, affirmed that he has been unable to perform his duties due to illness.
The FBR’s chairman has gone on indefinite leave on medical grounds.
Earlier, Mr Zaidi resumed his office on Jan 21 after a two-week leave for health reasons. In his absence, the member administration, a BS-22 officer of Inland Revenue Service, took over as acting chairman of the FBR.
On the other hand, the FBR has missed revised revenue collection target for the first half year of the current fiscal year FY20 by a wide margin of Rs287 billion against the target of Rs2.367 trillion despite several measures and double-digit consumer inflation.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) technical team has been holding policy-level talks with Pakistan while specifically considering the performance of FBR’s revenue collection.
Mr Zaidi is a chartered accountant who has been serving as the 26th chairman of the FBR.
Previously, he served as a provincial minister of Sindh during the 2013 caretaker setup. He was the territory partner of PwC Pakistan.
He is a fellow member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan and also served as president of the Institute from 2005 till 2006.
He had also been working with A. F. Ferguson & Co., a member firm of PwC since 1969.
Among his non-profit work, he is a trustee of Sindh Institute of Urology & Transplantation (SIUT) and member of Boards of Governors of Liaquat National Hospital and Karachi School of Business and Leadership (KSBL).
He was also the president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan and the chairman of the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA).
Shabbar Zaidi has also authored many books, including Panama Leaks – A Blessing in Disguise – Offshore Assets of Pakistani Citizens, A Journey for Clarity and Pakistan: Not a Failed State.
As FBR’s chairman, he has introduced the Asset Declaration Scheme, whose deadline was July 3, 2019, by any measure, this scheme was considered as the most successful asset declaration program in the history of Pakistan.
