ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s economic team and the Internal Monetary Fund (IMF) team agreed that there would be no mini-budget and no general sales tax on petroleum products on Wednesday.
According to sources, the government’s economic team has assured the IMF that the agricultural tax will be collected from next year.
The IMF Mission was briefed on Gross Financing and Debt Maturity, with detailed discussions on domestic debt during the negotiation sessions.
Officials of the Ministry of Finance briefed the IMF mission on local debt, to which the IMF mission did not object.
Finance Ministry officials briefed the IMF mission on local debt, to which the IMF mission did not object.
In the briefing, the economic team said that the government is gradually reducing local debt while also extending the repayment period.
According to sources, FBR officials briefed the IMF mission on the improvement in revenue collection following government-wide digitisation and artificial intelligence initiatives.
According to the sources of the Ministry of Finance, among the points agreed by Pakistan and the IMF, the mini-budget will not come.
The parties agreed that a general sales tax will not be imposed on petroleum products, while the IMF is satisfied with the tax-to-GDP rate increasing from 8.8 per cent to 10.3 per cent.
According to the sources, in the ongoing negotiation process with the IMF, some changes in the businessman-friendly scheme are expected to be discussed.
