Pakistan Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said that the cash-strapped country will continue to seek IMF bailouts if it fails to boost tax revenue, according to a media report on Monday.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader in an interview said that he was “relatively confident” of reaching a staff-level agreement with the IMF this month for an estimated loan of USD 6-8 billion. “It will not be our last fund program if we don’t bring our tax revenues up.”
Last month, the federal government passed the tax-laden Rs 18,877 billion budget for the fiscal year 2024-25, amid protests from the Opposition which labelled it as an International Monetary Fund-driven document that was harmful to the public.
The tax rises will mostly fall on salaried workers, who comprise a relatively small part of Pakistan’s mostly informal economy, as well as some retail and export businesses, Geo News reported.
The budget also threatened punitive measures for tax avoiders, including restrictions on mobile phones, gas and electricity access and the ability to fly abroad.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has travelled recently to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and China to solicit investments on top of the IMF program, which would be Pakistan’s 24th with the IMF.
– economictimes.indiatimes.com
