ISLAMABAD - Finance Minister Ishaq Dar yesterday assured in the National Assembly session that there would be no new tax on construction and agriculture sectors following the $3 billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"It will be our effort to further enhance our foreign exchange reserves," said the minister while mentioning that there will be no new tax on agriculture and construction sectors. He explained that the government has already delivered on IMF’s prior actions and announced taxation measures of 215 billion rupees in the winding up budget speech.
He gave credit to the federal government of preventing Pakistan from financial default by timely and prudent economic measures.
“When our government took over, the country’s forex reserves were just $14 billion. We decided to honour all external payments due, prevent Pakistan from defaulting financially. Our forex reserves are still $14 billion despite making all external payments on time,” said the minister said this while sharing the economic situation with the house. He said 8.7 billion dollars are in possession of State Bank of Pakistan and 5.3 billion dollars are held by the commercial banks.
About the three billion dollars standby arrangement reached with the IMF and the financial assistance extended by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the minister said they have made all the external payments in a timely manner. Ishaq Dar said this government has also brought down the inflation. He said that according to State Bank of Pakistan, the inflation will come down to 7 percent in two years’ time if the consistency in policies continued.
Moreover, the house was informed that Islamabad International Airport will be outsourced for fifteen years after a competitive bidding process.
Minister for Aviation Khawaja Saad Rafique shared with the House that about twelve companies have shown their interest in the operations of the Islamabad International Airport. He said the outsourcing process of Islamabad International Airport will be completed in next two and a half months. The minister said airports of Lahore and Karachi will also be outsourced, stressing that best international practices will be emulated at our airports. He assured that employees will not be laid off. About the PIA deficit, the minister asked for its restructuring, assuring that rights of the employees will be protected. He said that PIA’s flight operation to UK will resume in the next three months which will be followed by resumption of flights to Europe and US.
