ISLAMABAD (Newsman): Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb said that he and his team has given all-out assurances for taxing the all segments of economy to the IMF team on a surprise visit few days back.
The visit was actually meant to stop the derailing of the program just after a month of the program approval.
In a video presser released by Finance Ministery, where the minister was speaking in a monologue, the Minister stated that recent visit of the IMF team to Pakistan, is an ongoing talk process, and discussions were conducted on the privatisation agenda, SOE reforms, energy, and public finance.
The minister said, “Such interactions and discussions are vital for mutual credibility and trust,” he said. “We have shared with the IMF our commitment towards the rightsizing of the federal government.”
The finance minister’s speech came a day after the IMF staff left Pakistan from its surprize – Nov 12 to Nov 15 visit.
IMF on Saturday issued a statement saying it agreed with the Pakistani government to transfer “greater social and development responsibilities to provinces”.
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The unscheduled mission talked a $ 7-billion bailout within 6 weeks of its approval by the IMF board, but had to come too early for the first review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), due in the first quarter of 2025.
Strict Compliance on Taxation Sought
Regarding revenue and taxation, the minister maintained that the government was strict on compliance and enforcement and every sector has to play its due role in paying taxes.
“The discussions with the IMF were very productive on the matters of revenue and taxation,” he said.
Climate Emergency
The minister also stressed the requirement to discuss the very significant issues for the country, which included “the climate emergency.”
Aurangzeb claimed, “This is not something we can take consequentially. Today, we are questioned about the IMF — however, we don’t take such issues and climate resiliency, they are as significsant.”
He stressed on to treat these matters with the higher significance.
Prudent Policies
He also said that the government has vowed to building on the hard-attained macroeconomic stability to cement the strengthen of the economy. He termed the “prudent economic policies” had led to these substantial improvements.
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“[There is a] fall of inflation from 38% to just 7% and the policy rate from 22% to 15%, while forex reserves have grown from two weeks of import cover to 2.5 months of import cover,” the minister stated.
He said figures related to falling inflation and the growing foreign exchange reserves, saying that the official “prudent economic policies” had turned into better results with significant improvements in economic data.