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Clinton Urges Pakistan to Tax Rich for Flood Relief

14 October 2010 18:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is urging the Pakistani government to boost taxes on the wealthy to help the country recover from recent devastating floods, APA reports quoting voanews.com website.
Clinton said Thursday it is â€œabsolutely unacceptable for those with means in Pakistan not to be doing their fair shareâ€ while international donors fund aid efforts. Her comments were made after a meeting in Brussels Thursday with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
Clinton said the international community can only do so much, and that Pakistan must take â€œimmediate and substantialâ€ action to mobilize its own resources for the reconstruction effort. She said those steps should include reforms to expand the countryâ€™s tax base.
Pakistanâ€™s tax collection rate is among the lowest in the world.
The U.S. and EU have provided about $450 million each in aid since flooding from monsoon rains submerged one-fifth of Pakistan earlier this year.
The floods killed 1,700 people and affected nearly 20 million others.
Clinton spoke on the eve of a meeting in Brussels of the â€œFriends of Democratic Pakistan,â€ a group of more than 20 countries and international institutions aimed at boosting the Islamabad government.
EU chief diplomat Ashton, who will co-host Fridayâ€™s meeting with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, said a â€œsafe, secure and stableâ€ Pakistan is in the interests of the EU, the U.S. and the world community.
Qureshi said his country is building a â€œdemocratic cultureâ€ and needs Western support and economic aid in order to help fight challenges including extremism.