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Pakistan Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin tabled the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021 also called as 'mini-budget' in the Senate on Tuesday amid protest from opposition members.
The bill seeks to amend certain laws on taxes and duties to meet the International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) conditions for the clearance of Pakistan's sixth review of the USD 6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) by the financial institution, paving way for the disbursement of a tranche of around USD 1 billion. With the supplementary finance bill and the State of Bank of Pakistan Autonomy Bill, the Pakistan government aims to meet certain conditions set by the IMF. Earlier, increasing inflation has forced the Pakistan government in deferring the approval of the Rs 360 billion mini-budget Further, Pakistan needs to pass the bill before January 12 when the IMF Executive Board will give the final node to a USD 1 billion loan trace for Pakistan. Under the deal with the IMF, the government has revised it's tax revenue target from Rs 5829 billion to Rs 6100. Addressing the session after the bill was tabled, Pakistan People Party's Senator Raza Rabbani said the nation wanted to know "what pressure is the IMF exerting on Pakistan". "I demand that the government take us into confidence on this pressure. Inform the nation and parliament about this pressure from the US and IMF," he said. Referring to the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2021 another legislation needed to meet the IMF's conditions which were also tabled in the National Assembly (NA) last week, Rabbani said the central bank was being sold off. Also, some cabinet ministers from Khyber Paktunkhwa objected to bringing the mini-budget after the Paksitan's Tehreek-e-Insaf faced defeat in the local bodies elections. Lately, Pakistan has been witnessing currency devaluation, high inflation and a current account deficit compounding its economic problems. (ANI)
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