• Says foreign remittances may rise up to $36bn this year
• NA extends two ordinances for 120 days

ISLAMABAD: Amidst alarm over the hiring of a US-based company for digitalisation of tax system in the country, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Monday told the National Assembly that McKinsey and company was selected after a “transparent competitive” process.

MQM-P lawmaker Syed Hafezuddin while speaking on a calling attention notice had pointed out that the New York-based company had subsidiaries for artificial intelligence (AI) services and solutions operating in Israel and India.

The finance minister said as many as seven parties, including international players and domestic companies, had applied for it and McKinsey was selected through a rigorous process.

He said the matter should be seen in the context of government’s desire to transform the tax authority with the focus on people, procedure and technology.

Explaining his point, Mr Aurangzeb said it was aimed at inducting “competent people having integrity” and simplifying the procedures.

He said another component was end-to-end digitisation of tax regime so as to bring transparency in the system, reduce human intervention and effectively address the issues of corruption and........

© Dawn Business