November 13, 2022
Atif Khan
Islamabad: Pakistan's failing economy may face another dent as the IMF has been pressuring the country to impose new taxes to get rid of its $800 billion deficit.
According to a top Islamabad based IMF official, the demand has been raised following a shortfall in tax and non-tax revenues and an increase in state expenses.
The budget deficit is expected to exceed Rs 4.750 trillion, or around 6% of GDP, against the envisaged target of Rs 3.79 trillion, due to massive debt servicing.
An official said that to bridge the fiscal gap, equivalent to around 1% of GDP, the IMF has been asking for a mini budget.
Pakistan is facing a severe crunch as it needs around $32 billion to $34 billion in dollar inflows to keep the local currency stable against the US dollar. Remittances, a strong source of dollar inflow, have been drying up due to a recession like situation globally.
During the past month, Pakistan received 2.215 billion dollars in remittances, a decrease of 15.7% on an year- year basis, a record low since February 2022.
PML-N 's experienced Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar, who was brought in a few months ago, portraying him as a financial czar, who vowed to bring down the US dollar to Rs 200, is now passing his failures to the last government.
Addressing the PML-N leaders, Dar said, Pakistan needs around 34 billion dollars, and he has been trying to arrange that money. Dar, who has been in the UAE on an official trip, held meetings with many bankers and entrepreneurs to attract foreign investment, but according to the sources, his attempts have yet to bear any fruit.
0 Comments