Miftah Ismail opposes petroleum product subsidies.
According to Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, Pakistan has agreed to collect $4 billion from friendly nations in response to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) condition; nonetheless, the government cannot afford to subsidise petroleum goods.
“The finance ministry will not impose any additional taxes and levies on petroleum products, but the government cannot bear any more losses by providing subsidies,” the minister said in response to a question on Geo News’ “Naya Pakistan,” in which he was asked if the government planned to lower petrol prices in light of the rupee’s strengthening against the dollar.
“The IMF has set a requirement for us to seek $4 billion in loans from other sources before asking assistance from the global money lender,” he said, adding that the country had successfully obtained the requisite credit from several friendly countries.
“We will sign the letter of intent and send it to the IMF by tomorrow,” he said, notifying the host of Pakistan’s receipt of the document this week.In response to another question during the show, Ismail stated that all political parties should meet down and discuss the “charter of economy.”
He also commented on the implementation of a fixed tax on stores, claiming that he “made a mistake by imposing a Rs3,000 tax on tiny shops.” The minister said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had levied a levy of Rs6,000 rather than Rs3,000.
In response to PTI president Imran Khan’s comparison of Pakistan’s economy to that of India, he remarked that the neighbouring country had been constructing institutes since the 1950s while Pakistanis were playing gillidanda.
“We have false factories here to produce professors, we have paid little regard to the country’s education sector or its increasing population, and yet [the PTI] is here to raise the chants of actual freedom.” “The same party has left a $48 billion deficit,” he says.