'Time to tax rich

ISLAMABAD - Leader of the PPP-led ruling coalition on Tuesday practically launched its initiative to evolve a national consensus across political divide on tough economic reforms required under standby loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Initially the five-member ministerial committee of the government along with their technical and officials aides briefed the coalition partners namely MQM and ANP on challenges of economic management and energy. According to officials privy to the meeting, the government informed the coalition partners that there was no way out except for following the IMF prescriptions. The IMF mission is arriving by the end of this month with same conditionality. The reformed general sales tax tops the IMF conditions list followed by the central banks autonomy, and deficit containment through withdrawal of subsidies and doing away with loss financing of state-owned entities mainly in energy sector. After briefing the coalition partners on the existing state of the economy with special focus on prevalent energy crises, the government requested its coalition partners to come up with alternate proposals in case they disagree following the IMF agenda. Apparently, the two coalition partners were unable to propose any concrete alternatives but they have welcomed the governments step to take all political forces, both allies and in opposition, on board to steer the country out of serious of crises. Talking to the media after the briefing, Parliamentary Leader of the MQM Farooq Sattar said that the government should consult all political forces while it was interacting with the PML-N on the national issues. Similarly, Haji Adeel of the ANP said that the dialogue was the need of the time. We believe that for the masses in tough economic conditions due to price hike, unemployment, and inflation all political forces should work together, he added. Petroleum Minister Naveed Qamar said that the government was faced with acute economic difficulties. Therefore, it wants to take all the political parties on board for tough economic decisions required to resolve the national issues. Later on the committee held a detailed meeting with the PML-N body designated for interaction with the government on national issues particularly the 10-point agenda of its leader Mian Nawaz Sharif. The two committees agreed to hold another meeting on Thursday to take up the PML-N agenda point-to-point. Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in his briefing to the media told that the government had shared its economic vision with the PML-N and two sides had agreed to work together to handle challenges. Meanwhile Ishaq Dar, the leader of the PML-N committee who is also the economic wizard of the major opposition party ruling in Punjab, said that the government appeared mindful of the gravity of the situation. Agencies add: During the meetings, some of the political leaders also called for imposing tax on the elite class. MQMs Farooq Sattar said Its time to tax the elite class.