IMF has demanded more measures from Pakistan as part of a new program. The details of the IMF’s mission and the first day of negotiations with Pakistan’s economic team have been revealed. Officials from the Ministries of Finance, Energy,
and FBR participated in the talks with IMF officials. Federal Minister for Energy, Mossadegh Malik, briefed the IMF officials. The IMF has asked for concrete measures to end electricity and gas theft and has suggested outsourcing electricity bill collection in high-loss areas.
The IMF has also recommended the cessation of local gas supply to the Captopower plants. The IMF demanded that four large government-owned plants run at full capacity. The IMF has also asked for the completion of digitization in FBR. In the talks, it was decided to increase the use of technology to increase tax collection. The IMF was briefed on the process of collecting full tax from agriculture, shops, and real estate.
The FBR has assured tax collection from real estate and retailers to achieve the tax target for the current financial year. The IMF has called for the revocation of FBR and the cabinet’s discretionary power to grant incentives, extending the T&R of the National Tax Council, harmonizing tax rates, and expanding the base of income and property tax.
The IMF also recommended setting up a tax policy unit in the finance ministry and preparing an MoU and protocol for data exchange with the FBR and other institutions. BISP officials briefed the IMF on the new banking model for payments to 930,000 victims under the Kafalat program and BISP’s new payment system, which will save 2 billion rupees annually.
