ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to complete the budget targets and end the subsidy of government officials before the arrival of the IMF review mission to negotiate on the new loan program.
According to a private TV report, the subsidized house rent and medical charges received by the customs officers from grades 17 to 22 have been abolished, they were getting these benefits from the common pool fund, which was ordered to be abolished by the FBR. . Sources said that unnecessary subsidies and pension reforms will be part of the talks with the IMF.
According to the sources of the Ministry of Finance, all the ministries have been instructed to complete the targets before the negotiations on the new loan program, the budget strategy paper has been decided to be approved by the cabinet before the arrival of the IMF delegation, and the work of budget preparation has started. In addition to debt repayment, defense budget, tax collections, the target of development budget will also be fixed.
Sources said that the upcoming budget is likely to be presented in Parliament on June 6-7, in which more stringent measures are expected for financial stability, pension reforms may become a major demand of the IMF, regarding bringing pensioners into the tax net. A proposal is under consideration and pensioners of less than 1 lakh can also be brought into the tax net, another proposal is to levy tax at the rate of 10% on all pensioners.
The size of the new IMF program is likely to be decided in the upcoming negotiations. Pakistan may seek to expand this program through environmental financing, as was done for Bangladesh and Egypt.
