The country has been kept captive by IMF terms for the last two months. Last month, a second mini-budget for the current fiscal year was launched, with a variety of new taxes worth Rs 170 billion, and the GST rate was raised from 17 to 20 per cent. For hundreds of imported commodities, new 25% taxes were levied. Fuel prices were raised by Rs35 and Rs22 per litre throughout a fortnight. Electricity per unit has to be increased by Rs8 and gas by 124%, destroying the poor man’s purchasing power altogether.
The IMF is expected to reject Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s declaration last week to provide a Rs 100 per litre subsidy to motorcyclists, rickshaw drivers, and small vehicle owners, and issues over the staff-level agreement have remained. The IMF has now said that, while Pakistan has made great progress towards achieving its policy obligations, more items must be completed before the staff agreement can be signed.
According to media reports, the IMF’s resident representative in Pakistan, Esther Perez Ruiz, says the government has yet to increase markup rates by another 2%. In addition, Pakistan is required to discuss the planned motorbike subsidy with the IMF. The deal would be inked only when Pakistan has secured billions of dollars in funding from friendly countries. If these monies are obtained, they will provide some assistance to the nation, which is still reeling from the impact of last year’s disastrous storms. The IMF and the rest of the world must address the condition of Pakistan’s poor. The country’s agriculture and industry have been destroyed as a result of last year’s disastrous rains and floods, and to compensate for their losses, global powers must come forward for the rehabilitation of which has always stood with other nations in every difficult hour, and its demands today are not in vain from the standpoint of humanity.
