IMF expresses satisfaction with Pakistan's budget 2024-25

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed satisfaction with Pakistan’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2024-25 with a total outlay of Rs18.9 trillion.

Responding to the budget, the IMF demanded the government to eliminate the remaining trillion rupees' tax exemption.  

Sources said that the global loan lenders wanted to withdraw remaining tax exemptions to boost the tax revenue in overall relaxation. 

The recently unveiled budget paved the pathway to bring the salaried class into the tax net in accordance with the international standard guided by the Fund. 

Moreover, to avoid tax evasion, the New York-based agency directed the government to use technology and make the system digitalised.

Apart from this, since the beginning of the talk, the IMF has been focusing on reducing circular debt in the energy and power sector, however, the fresh budget depicted the impacts of the talk. 

The government ended the tax exemption and subsidy. The power consumer would pay the total cost of electricity production.

According to sources, the privatisation of government electricity companies and the power sector will be deregulated in the coming financial year.

The state-running entities will be entrusted to government companies of friendly Arab countries.

The sources further said the IMF demanded that the political parties will not politicise the IMF programme, and the provincial governments will also fully implement the new programme.