Govt likely to announce IMF agreement soon as PM's efforts bear fruit

ISLAMABAD (92 News) - Owing to successful efforts made by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the government is likely to announce the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) soon.

According to sources, the Finance Ministry and the IMF officials held talks over the new draft for two days. The government reviewed the budget on the demand of the IMF.

The IMF, according to sources, also demanded that cabinet should be given the power to limit the subsidy and increase the petroleum levy.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held three meetings with the IMF managing director in Paris. He conveyed the resolve to complete the IMF programme as well as economic situation.

"We highly value the assistance given to Pakistan to come out of the economic difficulties. The flood increased the economic difficulties. But we gave the people a relief. We want a balance between the relief and economic facts. We will have to take unavoidable steps to recover the economic deterioration caused during the last four years," he maintained.

Meanwhile, the government has decided to levy the new taxes of Rs215 billion after the talks with the IMF. The target of tax recoveries has been increased to Rs9,416 billion from Rs9,200 billion. The minimum limit of the super tax has been fixed at Rs 500 million from Rs300 million. A new proposal has been given to impose a tax of 10 percent on dividends and bonus share.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has announced to release the IMF agreement on the official website. He said that that they had decreased the expenditures by Rs 85 billion after the dialogues with the IMF.