LAHORE -Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday said the government neither accepted any unreasonably harsh conditions of IMF (International Monetary Fund) conditions in the past nor it will do so this time.
In an interview with the Nawa-i-Waqt Group, he said the IMF wants them to increase the taxes but the government would take all decisions in national interest.
“The fiscal mismanagement resulted in huge foreign loans and the country is presently being run with the help of Rs2 trillion loans. Different governments in the past took loans amounting to a total of Rs3 trillion over a period of 52 years, but in last five and a half years the volume of loans has surged to Rs14 trillion,” the minister said while talking about the enormity of financial difficulties their nascent government is facing.
The government could increase the GDP ratio through increase in taxes, but that would put more burden on the already heavily burdened people, he said. Dar regretted that though the government has increased GST (general sales tax) by just one percent (from 16 to 17 percent), some elements were giving a wrong impression that it would result in a cumulative effect of five percent raise. He said the kitchen items have been exempted from even this one percent raise.
Dar said that opposition has the right to criticise govt policies and pointed out that the government accommodated around 21 proposals of the opposition in the budget. He said that all discretionary funds of ministers as well as the prime minister have been ended while the matter of discretionary funds of national assembly speaker and senate chairman has also been referred to the finance committee.
The minister said the government was also giving a huge subsidy on power as the consumers have to pay Rs9 for a unit while the actual generation cost is almost Rs14.9 per unit. Regarding fuel adjustment, he stated that government had nothing to do with it as Nepra is an independent body that makes its own decisions.
He said the government would not succumb to any pressure regarding Pak-Iran gas pipeline, but he rued about the practical glitches. He claimed that the project has ‘no feasibility’ and no one knows from where the required funds would come.
Dar said India is in a position to export around 1500-2000MW to Pakistan but government would take any decision about power import from India keeping in view the national interest. He cast serious doubts about the probability of energy import from the neighbouring country, saying, “How a sate, which is herself energy deficient, can export electricity to another country?”
To a question, he also denied import of LNG specifically from India, saying that international level tenders would be opened to import liquefied natural gas in a transparent way. The minister said that during his upcoming visit PM Nawaz would impress upon the Chinese authorities to start at the earliest work on the idea of constructing economic zone from Kashgar to Gwadar so the two countries could get an easy access to international markets.
Dar said the work on Kalabagh Dam would not be started until a national consensus is achieved, adding that this dam cannot be built at the cost of federation’s vitality. He stated the government would build Bhasha Dam on priority basis to enhance national water storage capacity and power generation. He said the government was ready to finance Dr Samar Mubarakmand’s coal gasification project if he assures power generation from this project. He disclosed that past government of the PPP also provided funds to Dr Samar but his work has yield no positive results so far.
He said no tax had been imposed on Hajis, as the levy has in fact been applied on the income of Haj operators. He said prepaid consumers of cell phones should also come in tax net. “Those who are already paying taxes in advance while using mobile service should mention it in tax form to get relief from the government.”
Earlier, the finance minister discussed political and economic issues of the country with Nawa-i-Waqt Group Editor-in-chief Dr Majid Nizami. In the meeting, which was also attended by The Nation Editor Salim Bokhari, Dar explained the economic agenda of the government. He said the PML-N government believes in good governance, transparency and zero tolerance to corruption.
The minister shared budget proposals presented by the opposition with Dr Nizami, and observed that the new government would utilise maximum resources to resolve all issues of the country. He said the government would continue taking advice from the veteran journalist to pull the country out of mire. Later, the minister visited different sections of the Waqt News, Nawa-i-Waqt and The Nation.