ISLAMABAD, JULY 9 (DNA):Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, held a meeting today with a delegation of the Pakistan Business Council (PBC), led by its outgoing CEO Ehsan Malik and the incoming CEO Javed Kureish, at the Finance Division.

The Minister welcomed the transition in leadership at the PBC and extended his full support to the incoming team, reaffirming the government’s commitment to maintaining an inclusive and ongoing consultative process with key stakeholders in the business community.

During the meeting, the Finance Minister appreciated the constructive role played by the PBC, particularly acknowledging the value of its policy input, research, and the extensive sectoral data regularly shared with the government.

He underscored the importance of evidence-based policymaking and informed the delegation that the Tax Policy Office had been relocated from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to the Finance Division, with a view to institutionalizing tax policy formulation and strengthening engagement with forums such as the PBC.

Senator Aurangzeb emphasized that the government places high value on the perspectives and feedback of the business and industrial community, and in keeping with this approach, the consultative process for the federal budget 2025–26 was initiated earlier than usual this year. This step was taken to allow greater time for dialogue, reflection, and integration of a wide range of recommendations received from chambers, trade bodies, and business forums into the budget-making process, he added.