Only outstanding issue was of external financing which was also amicably resolved: Spokesman.

ISLAMABAD   -   The Ministry of Finance on Fri­day said the coalition govern­ment was fully committed to the Internal Monetary Fund (IMF) programme and keen to at least complete the 9th review as it had already taken many difficult and politically costly decisions in that context.

Responding to the statement of IMF's Resident Representa­tive Ms Esther Perez, the Finance Ministry spokesperson said ne­gotiations with the Fund were going on, however, it would be appropriate to clarify "our po­sition" on some specific issues raised in the press statement.

He said the 9th IMF review was conducted in early February 2023 and the government com­pleted all technical issues at a fast pace. The only outstanding issue was of external financing "which, we understand, was also amicably resolved in the prime minister’s telephonic call of May 19, 2023, with the Managing Di­rector (MD) of IMF". 

The spokesperson said the budget for the financial year 2023-24 was never a part of the 9th Review, however, "in line with the prime minister’s commitment to the IMF MD, we shared the budget num­bers with the IMF Mission and we are continuously en­gaged with them even on the budget”. On the specif­ic issues raised by Ms Esther Perez, he said as far as the broadening of the tax base was concerned, the Feder­al Board of Revenue (FBR) had added 1,161,000 new tax payers i.e. 26.38% to its tax base in the last 11 months. “This is an on-going exercise and will continue,” he said, adding 0.6 % advance adjust­able withholding tax on cash withdrawals over Rs 50,000 was another big step in that direction. Besides, he said, the tax-exemptions that had been announced in the bud­get were “triggers” of growth in the real sectors of econo­my. “This is the sustainable path to provide employment and livelihood to the com­mon citizen. In any case, the amount is fairly small.” On the Benazir Income Support Programme’s (BISP) alloca­tion, the spokesperson said the pro-poor initiatives in the budget were not limited to the BISP beneficiaries whose budget in any case had been increased from Rs 400 to Rs 450 billion. (This was last raised by the government in February 2023 from Rs 350 to Rs 400 billion.) “There are millions of vulnerable people above the poverty line and the budget provides Rs 35 billion for targeted subsidies on five main items of food consump­tion through the Utility Stores Corporation for families upto a PMT scorecard 40. This fa­cility is also available for BISP beneficiaries,” he added. Sim­ilarly, he said, as far as the “amnesty” was concerned the only change was to “dol­larize” the value of an exist­ing provision of IT Ordinance, which had always been there, was available under its Sec­tion 111(4). He said the cap of Rs 10 million (approxi­mately $ 100,000 equivalent) was introduced in the fiscal year 2016. “The cap set in FY 2016 is being resolved in terms of rupee equivalence of $ 100,000,” he added. Mean­while, Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Friday said that Pakistan has fulfilled all requirements of the International Monetary Funds (IMF), and desires to continue the program. “We will never surrender before IMF for tough conditions,” he said while talking to a private television channel. The tough agreements could create dif­ficulties for poor masses, he opined. The government is well aware of the problems of the masses, he said add­ing that we are trying to pro­vide maximum relief to the common man. Commenting on Miftah Ismail and Shahid Khaqan Abbassi, he said, both the PML-N, leaders had been working well for the par­ty’s interest. He said Miftah Ismail had served as the fi­nance minister of Pakistan. Shahid Khaqan Abbassi, he said was a high-caliber per­sonality and supported the main leadership of our par­ty. To a question, the minister said that any leader of PML-N can submit suggestions to the party head. He said it depends on the party head to consider the proposal or reject it. Kha­waja Muhammad Asif said that there is no rift among the party members. To another query about the next general elections, he said the PML-N, would win the general elec­tions. About seat adjustment, he said, there is sufficient time in the next elections for taking such type of decisions. However, he said, we can make seat adjustments where it is necessary.