“My heart goes out to the people of Pakistan,’ said International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief, Kristalina Georgieva. Speaking to media house, Georgieva acknowledged that Pakistan is ravaged by the unprecedented floods in 2022, which affected over one-third of its population, and listed their expectations from the country.
She advised Pakistan to stop giving tax evasion subsidies and plans to the rich if it wants to function as a country.
“IMF has asked Pakistan to take steps to function as a country and not to get into a dangerous place where the country’s debt needed to be restructured. I think this demand is the most suitable expectation,” she added.
Emphasizing the need for an increase in tax revenue, the IMF chief stated that it has to be the rich sector of the country, who contribute to the economy, and not be provided with subsidies to get away from paying taxes.”Number 1, tax revenues. Those who can, those that are making good money, pubic sector, private sector, they need to contribute to the economy.
“And secondly, to have a fairer distribution of the pressure by moving subsidies only towards the people who really need it. It should not be like the wealthy benefit from subsidies. It should be the poor who benefit from them,” she added.
The remarks came after the cash strapped country and the world fund providing bank concluded the ninth review of the $6.5 billion bailout package without an agreement.
To fulfil the pre-condition of the IMF, Pakistan has agreed to implement the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEEP) and has already started taking difficult decisions, including increase in prices of petroleum products, taxes, the energy sector and overpricing essential supplies.
IMF has delayed the release of a crucial $1.1 billion portion of a 2019 deal worth $6 billion, on hold since December over Pakistan’s failure to meet the terms.