Islamabad: According to the minister, Pakistan met all conditions and prerequisites set forth by the IMF there under 7th and 8th reviews for the funding of $1.18 billion and complied with a separate funding arrangement involving $4 billion from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates as well as China’s re-rolling of payable debt.
The minister stated, “However, the Fund requested clarity on specific topics,” adding that the import embargo was put in place on May 19 for a period of two months to stop the outflow of limited foreign currency. The World Trade Organization (WTO), with whom the IMF collaborated closely, could have brought up the import ban issue, he added, and this is why the Fund wanted the embargo lifted.
The importation of one thousand tons of wheat, 200,000 tonnes of urea, cotton, edible oil, and pulses, which helped control prices, was arranged by the government because it was the government’s priority to provide for food items. According to Mr. Ismail, the prime minister was not in the mood to allow luxury imports to flow.
In order to satisfy yet another additional demand of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before it approves Pakistan’s bailout package later this month, the government on Thursday announced new income measures totaling more than Rs50 billion and relaxed a ban on all luxury or non-essential imports.
Miftah Ismail, the finance minister, stated during a press conference on Thursday that an additional tax of Rs36 billion had been levied on cigarettes and tobacco and that revisions to the tax laws for merchants will generate an additional Rs14 billion.
He said that some of the additional tax reduction plans for banks, financial markets, real estate, and other industries had been put on hold for the time being.
