ISLAMABAD – Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Saturday that Pakistan has accepted the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) demand to impose new taxes worth Rs215 billion.
Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, Dar said the new taxes would not affect the middle class. He said the government has also accepted IMF’s demand to cut the ongoing expenditure by Rs85 billion. He however said this cut in expenditure would not affect the development budget, government employees’ salaries or the pensions.
Dar said there was a proposal to double the tax on the salaried persons and he fainted after hearing this proposal. He said it is good if a deal is reached with the IMF otherwise Pakistan is trying make ends meet. He said that IMF has accepted Pakistan’s argument.
He said that the tax collection target of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has been increased from Rs9,200 billion to Rs9,415 billion due to the IMF’s demand to impose Rs215 billion new taxes. He said that provinces’ share has been increased from Rs5,276 billion to Rs5,390 billion.
