- Defense expenses were exempt in the midst of security considerations.
- Pakistan is looking for $ 1 billion in water loans.
- The government aims to finalize the budget aligned by the IMF by June.
Islamabad: The team of the International Monetary Fund on Visit (IMF) indicated its reluctance to support wide aid for the salaried, real estate, drinks and export sectors, linking such measures to a corresponding reduction in government spending and the federal income recovery objective (FBR), FBR) The news reported.
This position appeared as the central theme of current discussions, the IMF delegation should conclude its visit on Friday (today).
A notable exception to the funding of the fund is the defense budget, which the Pakistani government should increase due to the geopolitical considerations in force.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his economic team met the IMF delegation, led by Jihad Azour, director of the Middle East fund and Central Asia.
Pakistan has asked the fund to postpone an increase in the Fed one fertilizer from 5 to 10% and 5% taxation to pesticides. The IMF can give its assent to a certain extent to the Prime Minister’s request. The increase in wages and pensions would be minimal, mainly because the exercise of very tumpered rights had lost its vapor.
“We do not know how this number of crisis of crisis for the finalization of budgetary estimates will be carried out,” said sources, adding that the government would announce the budget on June 2 following the virtual talks that were to continue.
Before the 2025 financial bill became a financial law, all the conditions of the IMF would be aligned and met to avoid criticism during the budget approval process.
However, a senior government official has confirmed that the taxation would establish the country’s management for the next two years, as they made the last efforts to convince the IMF to allow a reduction in income rates for the wage class.
“The FBR tax collection objective will be set at more than RS14.1 Billion in the upcoming budget according to the capacity of the finance division to reduce its expenses in proportion.”
The allocation of the defense budget will only be an exception in the next budget, because it will be hiking taking into account the needs of the country.
Another official said that the government had made arrangements to generate $ 1 billion commercial financing in June 2025 during the current financial year, as the Asian Development Bank (BAD) had a subsidy of $ 500 million. Due to this $ 500 million warranty, a Consortium of Standard Chartered Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank is expected to generate a sales loan of $ 700 million.
The government has asked three other commercial -based commercial banks to generate $ 100 million each to increase a total of $ 1 billion by June 2025.
Meanwhile, the FBR informed Thursday the permanent finance committee of the National Assembly that the IMF would not authorize the reversion of the final tax regime (FTR), because the tax machines had introduced the minimum tax regime (MTR) for exporters.
Another problem raised before the committee was that local exporters’ supplies have been taxed, while imported goods were not taxed. The High-ups of the FBR replied that the IMF could request the abolition of this distortion and asked the FBR to bring the goods imported for export purposes in the tax net.
During the meeting, the president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) presented a series of proposals for the next national budget.
The application adds: Meanwhile, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif reaffirmed the government’s commitment to institutional reforms on Thursday, in parallel with macroeconomic stabilization, claiming that Pakistan was now firmly on the path of economic development, after a period of recovery and stability.
“With the grace of Allah, Pakistan is now going from economic stability to sustainable growth,” he said during his meeting with the IMF team.
Discussions focused on implementing and progressing the IMF program in progress in Pakistan. The two parties expressed their satisfaction on economic reforms undertaken by the government and their positive results accumulated.
Meanwhile, chairing a gas supply review meeting and consumption in the country, Shehbaz has called for new reforms in the gas sector in order to gradually reduce and eliminate the volume of the circular debt thanks to new reforms in the gas sector.
He received a full long -term plan on gas supply and consumption in the country at the meeting. Shehbaz has expressed satisfaction with the creation of various blocks to increase the production of interior gas and discover new reserves.
He stressed that energy sector reforms were the absolute priority of the government. The Prime Minister was also informed of the financial stability of the gas sector, long -term planning and the improvement of the governance system.