Washington (East West News) Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said that one billion dollars has been requested from the IMF Environmental Fund, PIA will be privatized next month, Panda Bonds worth 250 million dollars from the Asian Development Bank and Negotiations are ongoing to increase credit with other institutions. Pakistan's total debt is 258 billion dollars, which is 69% of GDP. They are aware of the difficulties of the salaried class, but they cannot burden them with taxes. Base has been increased by 29%, tax revenue from real estate, retails sectors will have to be increased. He expressed these views while giving interviews to British and French news agencies and others at the sideline meetings of the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington. According to details, Pakistan has set a target of around $1 billion in its official request for funding from the IMF facility, which helps low- and middle-income countries deal with external shocks.
"We have formally requested that this facility be considered," Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in an interview on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank Autumn Meeting in Washington. The International Monetary Fund has already agreed to a $7 billion bailout for Pakistan, but more funding is available through its Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST). The RST, due in 2022, provides long-term discounted cash for climate-related costs such as adaptation and the transition to clean energy. According to the Global Climate Risk Index, the South Asian country is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. Aurangzeb said Pakistan is also in talks with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to extend credit for a planned Panda bond with an initial issue of $200-250 million. Issuance of Panda Bond will be Pakistan's first foray into China's capital markets. Aurangzeb said he was in talks with "a few other institutions" besides the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to extend credit. Aurangzeb said that issuing in the world's "second largest and second deepest" capital market is the key objective rather than a particular issue size.
"From our point of view, it's diversification of the funding base," he said. Even if the opening issue is not important in size, it is important for us to print it and of course then we can keep it ready for immediate use. In an interview on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank, we have made a formal request to the International Monetary Fund to provide this amount. The IMF approved a $7 billion loan for Pakistan last month, but has made the additional fund conditional on financing under the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST). On the other hand, Pakistan is in talks with the Asian Development Bank to get the proposed Panda Bond worth around $220-250 million. Muhammad Aurangzeb said that before the present government came to power, Pakistan was lagging behind in the payment of profits and dividends, but steps have been taken to address this issue after the improvement in economic stability. Last year's political instability, 2022 flood disasters and decadesPakistan was close to bankruptcy due to mismanagement. However, due to the strict measures taken by the State Bank to keep the interest rate at a high level and the government to impose a ban on imports to stabilize the foreign exchange, the inflation rate in the country came down from 38 percent to 7 percent. is The finance minister appreciated the improvement in the country's overall current account deficit and the stabilization of the rupee, which has depreciated by 65 percent against the US dollar since 2020. He said that due to economic stability and increase in reserves in the country in May and June, we have paid more than 2 billion dollars to our existing international partners. According to the IMF, Pakistan's total debt is about 258 billion dollars, which is 69 percent of the GDP.
While giving an interview to the French news agency, he said that the participants in the PIA bid were given an opportunity to check. The privatization process was delayed due to the scrutiny of PIA's assets. He said that the government of Pakistan wanted to privatize PIA in June 2024. The share of loans has reached 69%. The Federal Finance Minister said that Pakistan is aware of the problems of the salaried class, they cannot put more burden of taxes on the salaried class. Muhammad Aurangzeb said that the tax rate in the industrial sector too. It is increasing which will be a happy future for the country, tax collection from agricultural income will have to be improved, tax income from real estate and retails sectors will have to be increased. He said that more than 52 lakh income tax returns have been collected in the country, the tax base has been increased by 29%. Can't stand it.Tax revenue from sectors should be increased. He said that more than 52 lakh income tax returns have been collected in the country, the tax base has been increased by 29%. Can't stand it.Tax revenue from sectors should be increased. He said that more than 52 lakh income tax returns have been collected in the country, the tax base has been increased by 29%. Can't stand it.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
0 Comments