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Tuesday, 14 June, 2022 I 14 Dhul-Qadah, 1443 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XII No 345 I 12 Pages I Karachi Edition
Pakistan can default if subsidies on Petrol not abolished: Miftah
ISLAMABAD
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shAhzAd PArAchA
INANCE Minister Miftah Ismail Monday claimed that Pakistan would default if the government did not abolish subsidies on petroleum products. Perhaps, Miftah Ismail is the first-ever sitting finance minister to say that the country would default. Speaking at a post-budget conference here, the finance minister said if the price of petrol and electricity is not increased, then the country will default. He said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has insisted on abolishing the subsidies on petroleum products, adding that the government is still subsidizing Rs 53 per liter on high-speed diesel, Rs 19 on petrol, Rs 24 on kerosene and Rs 23 per liter on light diesel. He said Sri Lanka also gave subsidies to its public and it, eventually, defaulted. “Today, Sri Lanka is purchasing expensive oil and they do not have funds to buy medicines for their people,” the finance minister said as he warned of a similar situation in Pakistan.
The Finance minister also said that Pakistan will have to further rise in prices of petroleum products and a difficult situation could arise in mid-July. In a bid to bring economic stability and revive the stalled multi-billion-dollar IMF programme, the government had increased the price of petrol by a whopping Rs60 per litre last month. It was also expected that after the budget, some hurdles would be removed in the IMF programme’s revival. But the finance minister last week said the IMF “was still unhappy with the government over the budget” mainly because it did not implement the Personal Income Tax (PIT) measures suggested by it. Miftah had also said last week that there was no financial emergency in Pakistan after the government took steps to rectify the ongoing economic turmoil and increased the price of petrol. But in today’s TV interview, the finance minister said if the government does not increase the prices, the IMF will not strike a deal with Pakistan, and if this happens, then the country will be pushed toward “destruction.”
“I have told the prime minister that we have to take tough decisions. The prime minister is unhappy with increasing the prices of petroleum products. Whenever I send a summary in this regard, the ministers curse me,” Miftah lamented. Miftah added that the PTI government did not make the decisions it agreed upon with the IMF. “We are in talks with the IMF; the PTI did not strike a good deal with it.” He also said that Pakistan needs $42 billion in the next fiscal year and we have to pay $21 billion in debt adding that he said that if we do not settle our matters with IMF, the World Bank will hold $9.5 billion and the ADB $8 8 billion in financing. He said that once the agreement with the IMF is reached and Chinese banks extend their loan facility to Pakistan, the market will regain confidence. He also said that government would also include 6 million people in the Benazir income support program. we have received 4 million texts in 10 days as the government announced to give Rs2000 for petrol subsidy. He said that the government has announced incentives for agricultural development in the budget and would also announce the export policy in a few days. Replying to queries regarding the increase in electricity tariff, he said that Economic Coordination Committee has approved jacking up the electricity prices by Rs7.91 per unit. The matter would be presented in cabinet meeting then we will gradually increase the prices of electricity. Replying to media queries on the ongoing discussion on Twitter about his company, the Finance minister said that there is no tax discount for his company. He said the Lay’s manufacturing company will get benefit as it wanted to export its product. “My company uses the candy colour but there is no reduction in the duty of candy colour”, he added. He also said that Pakistan will be out of FATF’s grey list soon.
KP govt unveils Rs1.33tr budget for FY 2022-23 AzIz BunerI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Finance Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra on Monday presented the provincial budget for FY 2022-23 with a total outlay of Rs1.33 trillion. Addressing the budget session of the KP Assembly, Taimur Saleem Jhagra said that the total outlay of the budget stands at Rs1,332 billion. “Despite hurdles, we have earmarked Rs319.2 billion for the development portfolio of which only Rs8 billion will be received under the PSDP,” he said. He announced a 16 percent increase in salaries of the government employees while pension was jacked up by 15 percent. The Shuhada package for police has also been increased in the budget. Sharing a relief package for the government employees, he said that the ‘work from home’ policy will be launched for employees to mitigate the impact of fuel prices while fleet cards having fuel limits will also be given to the departments to avoid unnecessary waste of fuel resources. Sharing details of appointments and permanent status to employees, the finance minister said that 675 doctors and 58,000 NTS teachers will get permanent status while 600 nurses will be recruited in the next fiscal year. “Sehat bumper card is also being introduced for the government employees which will also include their OPD treatment,” he said. Sharing further details of initiatives in the budget, he said that treatment for bone marrow transplant, thalassemia, and advance-stage cancer will also be added to Sehat card. “Four new medical colleges will be established in Dir, Buner, Charsadda, Haripur,” in addition he said that youngsters will also be given loans
PML-N, CEC plotting to rig next elections: Imran Khan ISLAMABAD Agencies
Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan has accused the ruling PML-N and the top official of the chief electoral watchdog of working in cahoots to rig the next general elections. “The Chief Election Commissioner(CEC) takes orders from Hamza Shehbaz and Maryam Nawaz… they are planning to rig the next elections,” he said while addressing the farmers’ convention in Islamabad on Monday. The PTI chief has time and again accused the ECP and its chief of being the henchman of the PML-N and sought Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja resignation to ensure transparency in the polls. Imran, the ousted premier, also hinted at the possibility of snap polls, saying that he is expecting that the elections would
be held soon. Speaking about the prevailing economic crisis, the former prime minister reiterated his allegations that incumbent rulers were installed into power through the US-backed
regime change conspiracy which he said cannot dare to buy oil from Russia at discounted rates. “Despite the being the ally of the US, India is purchasing oil, weapons from Russia but slaves [in-
worth around Rs25 billion. He shared that the tax collection in the KP hiked to Rs75 billion from Rs31 billion. “Despite financial issues, we gave a development budget of Rs260 in FY2021-22 and spent 33 percent of it, contrary to Sindh and Punjab where 21 and 22 percent are spent respectively” he said. He said that their government has produced 2.1 million job opportunities in the province. “World Bank data also proved that unemployment remained lowest during the three year tenure,” he said. According to budget documents, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has made historic allocations of Rs319.2 billion under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for fiscal year 2022-23. Of the total outlay of the budget, Rs1,108 billion has been allocated for settlement districts while Rs223 billion has been allocated for merged tribal districts. According to the budget documents, the total current budget of the province has been set at Rs913 billion, of which Rs789 billion has been allocated for settlement districts and Rs124 billion for integrated districts. The total development budget of the province covers Rs418 billion of which Rs319 are allocated for settlement districts and Rs99 for integrated districts. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Finance Taimoor Khan Jhagra has presented here on Monday a history Rs1.332trillion budget for the fiscal year 2022-23, including 1,109.1billion in the settled districts and Rs222.9billion in the newly merged district [NMDs] during a special budget session that chaired by Deputy Speaker Mahmood Jan here on Monday.
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cumbent government] is not allowed to buy oil..” He also lashed out at Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, saying that he had become the in charge of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and appointed his loyalist to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to “close down” his corruption cases. “They did not come [in power] for the people of Pakistan… they only came to get relief in corruption cases. We don’t expect anything from this imported government,” he added. Speaking about the RussiaUkraine conflict, Imran said the war has sparked fears of famine in the country due to a shortage of wheat. “Pakistan is facing a major challenge of food security. The RussiaUkraine war has disrupted the wheat supply and caused an increase in its price. The country can never proposer until pay attention to the agriculture sector,” he added.
China to promote in-depth development of bilateral relations with Pakistan: Zhang Youxia STORY ON PAGE 02
Imran Khan warns against looming threat of food shortage STORY ON PAGE 03
India’s ‘democratic face’ has been exposed globally: PM Shehbaz STORY ON BACK PAGE