Ishaq Dar while terming amendment in State Bank Act unbearable Pak is a sovereign country thus cannot accept everything lender demands
Says Pakistan is a sovereign country & cannot accept everything from the IMF
Says as a sovereign country, Pakistan should have right to give some tax concessions
Says foreign hostile elements want Pakistan to turn into another Sri Lanka & then the IMF negotiates with Islamabad
ISLAMABAD ( Web News )
While terming amendment in State Bank Act unbearable, Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan is a sovereign country and cannot accept everything the lender demands. He said such amendments were done in the act which demonstrates a state within the state.
Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue held with Senator Saleem Mandviwalla in the chair here on Thursday. In the committee meeting, the finance minister responded to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) objections to the tax exemptions given in the recently unveiled budget.
“Pakistan is a sovereign country and cannot accept everything from the IMF,” he said and added that as a sovereign country, it should have the right to give some tax concessions. “The IMF wants us not to give tax concessions in any sector,” he explained.
Ishaq Dar assured the senators that the government knew how much tax it needs to collect and from where the revenue could be generated. He added that this was the reason the government increased the tax target from Rs7.2 trillion to Rs9.2 trillion in the upcoming budget.
“This target is apart from tax exemption. No budget is coming from tax-exempt sectors. We will take the IMF into confidence on this,” he said, adding Pakistan should be allowed to decide on the matter.
He said that the government in the new budget is focusing on four drivers for economic growth. He also spoke about the package given to the IT sector, adding that the government cannot ban giving concessions to the youth in the IT sector just on the IMF’s demands.
“We want to give employment opportunities to the youth through development in the IT sector,” the federal minister said. He added that the government has set a target of achieving $15 billion in IT exports in the next five years. “IT exports were $2.5 billion this year which is very less. We want to take IT exports to $4.5 billion in the coming year,” he added.
Talking about the widespread default mongering, Ishaq Dar said that geopolitics is happening against Pakistan so the country defaults. “Foreign hostile elements want Pakistan to turn into another Sri Lanka and then the IMF negotiates with Islamabad,” he deplored.
Criticizing amendments in the State Bank of Pakistan Act during the previous government’s tenure, he said amendments led to a state within a state. “The amendments made to the State Bank Act are unsustainable,” he further added.
According to Ishaq Dar, changes were made in the SBP’s governing laws but they are not complete yet. On Pakistan’s external payments, he assured, once again, that the country will not defer any foreign payment.
He said that the country didn’t need to go to Paris Club to reschedule loans adding, “We will manage external payments of Pakistan.” Even the managing director of the Washington-based lender had assured that Pakistan would not default and the country would get good news on June 30.
Ishaq Dar also told the senators at length about the economy and the IMF as it was reported earlier the same day that the IMF had expressed dissatisfaction with Pakistan’s budget for the fiscal year 2023-24.
The money lender had said the government has missed an opportunity to broaden the tax base and reduce tax expenditures as well as terms of tax amnesty against the fund’s program conditionality.