KARACHI
\nFinance Minister Miftah Ismail has expressed the hope that he will succeed in having agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the next two days in the best interest of the country and the people.
\nTalking to the media persons before leaving for Doha for talks with the IMF on Monday, the finance minister said that the nation is paying the price of wrong policies and agreements signed by the previous government with international monetary organisations. He said that tough conditions of withdrawing subsidies and imposing tax on petroleum products are the result of agreements of the previous government with the IMF.
\nThe finance minister said as per agreements of the previous government, the diesel price is to be increased by Rs150 per litre and petrol price by Rs100 per litre but the present government does not want to carry it forward as it will result in heavy financial burden on the masses.
\nMiftah said that the subsidy on fuel has to be abolished and tax of Rs30 per litre has to be levied as per the promise made by Imran Khan and Tarin. \u201cWe have to pay the price of the promises made by the former government,\u201d he lamented, adding that the government will have to increase the price of diesel by Rs150 following the formula of Imran and Tarin.
\nReferring to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif\u2019s observation that the nation cannot bear the burden of a hike in oil prices, Miftah said that he would try to convince the IMF that the government can\u2019t raise oil prices immediately as the nation cannot afford it and should be given some time. He said that the government has granted the subsidy and it will continue.
\nMiftah went on to say that he finds Tarin\u2019s statement ridiculous that his government left funds for the subsidy.
\n\u201cI swear that I met the finance secretary two days before taking charge as the finance minister, and the presentation he gave showed a deficit worth Rs13,000 billion,\u201d the finance minister said. He asked the former government to tell him where they had left the money. \u201cThey have not left any money, instead they have violated the agreement with the IMF,\u201d he added.
\nContinuing his criticism, Miftah said that the PTI-led government showed 6% growth, but the IMF says that Pakistan\u2019s economy is running fast and it should be slowed down. \u201cNow, we might increase the interest rate as well.\u201d
\nHe said that Imran Khan took a loan of Rs20,000 billion, which is 80% of the entire amount of loans taken in 71 years of Pakistan\u2019s history. He further stated that former planning and development minister Asad Umar caused Pakistan a loss of 9.1% which was a record loss in 52 years.
\n\u201cPakistan exported wheat when we [PML-N] left the government but today the country is importing wheat,\u201d Miftah said. He said that he, as the finance minister of Pakistan, is forced to go to Doha for parleys due to Imran Khan\u2019s call of the long march.
\nMiftah pledged to return after striking a deal with the IMF within two days but did not agree on the conditions Tarin did. He said that he would ask the Fund to give its conditions in writing, which he will show to the prime minister.
\nHe claimed that Imran Khan has always created impediments in the path of development of the country. He said Imran Khan\u2019s 2014 sit-in caused postponement of the Chinese president\u2019s visit to Pakistan and at present the IMF team that was due in Islamabad for talks has declined to visit because of Imran Khan\u2019s sit-ins.
\nA Pakistani delegation is holding talks with the Fund in Qatar, seeking the revival of the stalled $6 billion loan programme. Miftah is traveling to Doha to participate in the final round of negotiations.
\nThe government is expected to withdraw energy subsidies and roll back unfunded subsidies to the oil and power sector. According to reports, Pakistani authorities would make every effort to urge the IMF\u2019s review mission that it should lower the cost of the inflation burden that will impact the population, and may ask for a phased-in approach to subsidy reversal, particularly on petroleum goods. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has expressed the hope that he will succeed in having agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the next two days in the best interest of the country and the people. Talking to the media persons before leaving for Doha for talks with the IMF on Monday, the finance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260678,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[6894,2416],"class_list":{"0":"post-262246","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-imf-agreement","9":"tag-miftah-ismail"},"yoast_head":"\n