By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: Hours after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressed concerns about the government’s failure to broaden the tax base through the budget for the fiscal year 2023-24, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan is a sovereign country and cannot accept everything the lender demands.
Addressing the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, he responded to the IMF objection to the tax exemptions given in the recently unveiled budget.
“Pakistan is a sovereign country and cannot accept everything from the IMF,” the financial czar told the parliamentarians. He also added that as a sovereign country, Islamabad should have the right to give some tax concessions. “The IMF wants us not to give tax concessions in any sector.”
The finance minister of the country assured the senators that the government knew how much tax it needs to collect and form where the revenue can be generated. He added that this was the reason the government increased the tax target from Rs7.2 trillion to Rs9.2 trillion in the upcoming budget.
“This target is apart from tax exemption. No budget is coming from tax-exempt sectors. We will take the IMF into confidence on this,” he said while urging that Pakistan should be allowed to decide on the matter.
The minister also added that the government in the new budget is focusing on four drivers for economic growth. He also spoke about the package given to the IT sector, explaining that
the government cannot “ban” giving concessions to the youth in the IT sector just on the IMF’s demands.
“We want to give employment opportunities to the youth through development in the IT sector,” the federal minister said. He added that the government has set a target of achieving $15 billion in IT exports in the next five years.
“IT exports were $2.5 billion this year which is very less. We want to take IT exports to $4.5 billion in the coming year,” he added.
