PM Shehbaz seeks crucial meeting
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expected to hold a crucial meeting with the managing director of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva to seek her help for the resumption of loans.
For this meeting, the government has requested the IMF officials to arrange a meeting of PM Shehbaz Sharif with IMF Managing Director on the sidelines of the upcoming New Global Financing Pact Summit.
The two-day summit will begin in Paris from June 22. Premier is participating in this summit in Paris.
“This is the last effort and if it ends in failure, the current incomplete IMF program will expire by June 30.
Importantly, the Pakistan government has fulfilled all IMF conditions except external financing. The government is insisting on the completion of the 9th review.
Finance Ministry defends new budget
The Ministry of Finance has reviewed the press statement of the Resident Representative of IMF. The ministry has issued a following rejoinder to the IMF’s statement about the new budget for the year 2023-24.
However, since some specific issues raised in the press will be clarified those issues.
Pakistani flag on the IMF Logo shows dependence of the country on the IMF.
Before we go into the specific issues raised in the Press statement it is important to give the context of these talks. The IMF officials conducted the 9th IMF Review in early February 2023 and the government completed all technical issues at a fast pace.
The only outstanding issue was of external financing which we understand was also amicably resolved in the Prime Minister’s telephonic call of 19th May 2023, with the Managing Director of IMF.
Though the Budget FY 24 was never a part of the 9th Review, however, in line with PM’s commitment to the MD IMF, we shared the Budget numbers with the IMF Mission.
On the specific issues raised by Ms. Esther Perez our position is as under:-
As far as the broadening of the tax base is concerned, the FBR has added 1,161,000 new tax payers in the last 11 months.
This is an on-going exercise and will continue. The 0.6% advance adjustable withholding tax on cash withdrawals over Rs. 50,000 is another big step in this direction.
On BISP allocation, the pro-poor initiatives in the Budget are not limited to BISP beneficiaries whose budget in any case has been increased from 400 to 450 Billion.
As far as the “amnesty” is concerned the only change is to “dollarize” the value of an existing provision of I.T. Ordinance. This facility, which has always been there, is available under section 111(4) of the I.T Ordinance.
