Pak NA passes Bill to meet IMF demands for $1.1 loan facility

Islamabad: Pakistan’s National Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a money bill aimed at raising tax revenues to fulfil the demands set by the IMF for seeking a USD 1.1 billion loan facility to avoid an economic meltdown.

The Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2023 or mini-budget’ was approved in the lower lower house of Parliament days after the International Mone tary Fund (IMF) urged the cash-starved country to take strong measures to avoid getting into a “dangerous place” where its debt needs to be restructured.

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said in Germany on Friday that Pakistan must take steps to ensure that its high earners pay taxes and only the poor get the subsidies if it wants to function as a country. The bill increases sales tax from 17 to 25 per cent on luxury items. The general sales tax has been raised from 17 per cent to 18 per cent. People will also have to pay more for business-class air travel, wedding halls, mobile phones, and sunglasses, Geo News

reported.