Government plans curbs, incentives to push cashless economy

As part of pre-budget consultations with stakeholders, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday promised to shift the tax burden away from the salaried class and documented sector to others through digitisation, and hinted at major steps towards the compulsory use of digital payments to maximise a cashless economy and increase documented transactions. A Ministry of Finance team, led by the minister, had a series of meetings with commercial banks, development financial institutions, regulators and industrial representatives, including ceramics manufacturers and steel producers, to discuss policy measures for inclusion in the next year’s federal budget.