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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the IMF are holding policy-level discussions about the budget deficit, foreign financing, and other important topics.
According to sources, spending would be cut by 600 billion to reduce the budget deficit to a manageable level. According to insiders, preparations are being made to deduct the development budget by 33 percent, which is expected to total more than 300 billion rupees.
According to sources, the development budget would likely spend more than 400 billion dollars, up from 727 billion rupees. According to reports, plans are being made to prohibit subsidizing superfluous and similar initiatives that only exist on paper.
According to sources, “Subsidy would be restricted from the current fiscal year’s budget.” According to sources, the government must raise the prices for gas and electricity in order to reduce subsidies.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also demanded that all projects be monitored, and according to further sources, this monitoring of various projects will be made public on the website step by step.
Following the conclusion of technical negotiations in Islamabad, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged Pakistan to “do more” to restart the loan programme that has stalled.
According to sources, the IMF delegation remained steadfast in its demands to raise General Sales Tax (GST) from 17 to 18 percent on all commodities, with the justification that doing so will result in an additional Rs 39 billion in tax revenue.
In order to reach FBR’s revenue target for the current fiscal year of 2022–2023, the IMF has also urged the Pakistani team to impose a flood levy in addition to calling for the elimination of the income tax exemption.
The Fund has additionally urged the Pakistani government to raise the flood levy assessed against bank profits.
During the policy discussions, the government team will also present a plan for the privatization programme, according to the sources.
