ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will likely to meet with provincial government tomorrow here in Islamabad, sources told the scribe.
Talks between Pakistan and IMF visiting mission are continue in Islamabad and will remained upto Friday.
The visiting delegation has decided to convene all four provinces tomorrow (Thursday) to discuss their financial issues. Both parties will hold different issues until Friday. The latest updates on Fiscal Pact signed by the Center and provinces will be reviewed.
The IMF likely to raise a questions that why the Punjab failed to give surplus budget during the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
The Provinces, collectively, had given Rs159 billion surplus budget during the first quarter of the current fiscal year which is less than 15 percent of the total estimated of the current fiscal year.
Surprisingly, the Punjab government had give Rs160 billion deficit to the federal government during the current fiscal year, The Sindh government gave Rs131 billion surplus, KP government Rs.104 billion Baluchistan government has given Rs48 billion to the Federal government to support for bridging the budget deficit.
The officials of the FBR have briefed the visiting delegation and said that the revenue collection shrank mainly due to high tax rates in different sectors
Both sides might explore an option to hike the Petroleum Levy (PL) and increase the rate from existing Rs70 to Rs80 per liter. The current rate of PDL is Rs60 per liter on diesel and petrol.
The sources say that the FBR is trying to avoid more increase in the tax rates especially withholding taxes on imports and sugary drinks.
If the levy on petroleum is jacked up further, th consumption of fuel may be decrease. The government has got Rs261 billion through PL during the first quarter against the total estimates of Rs1066 billion for the whole current fiscal year.
