Pakistan’s dire economic crisis has forced it to take actions as per International Monetary Fund’s conditions as the South Asian nation made tax-related announcements earlier this week.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced in Parliament on Saturday that Pakistan will implement new tax policy following which the country would generate an additional revenue of 215 billion rupees ($750 million), bringing the total budget to 9.4 trillion rupees.
Following three days of discussions with the IMF, the budget will be finalised within the next three days, according to Dar.
Pakistan’s focus to revive $6.7bn bailout programme
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government had previously presented an annual spending plan aimed at balancing economic growth with conditions imposed by the IMF to revive a $6.7 billion bailout programme.
But on Saturday, Pakistani finance minister stated that the government has decided to revise and reduce state expenses by 85 billion rupees, just what the IMF had proposed.
In an earlier statement, the IMF expressed concerns about the budget’s tax policies, pointing out that Pakistan failed to broaden the revenue base. The IMF had also raised objections to an amnesty programme that apparently raised conflict with the bailout programme’s conditions.
Earlier, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and committed to taking further measures with the bailout programme.
The country now expects to secure funding of at least $1.1 billion from the IMF before the expiration of its current programme on June 30.
Over the past year, the government has implemented measures such as raising taxes and fuel prices, as well as loosening control over the foreign exchange rate.
