Despite protests from the Ministry of Planning, the Ministry of Finance has decided to keep the lid on federal financing of development and recurrent expenditures through back-loaded releases of funds to meet the IMF’s primary surplus targets at any cost. According to fresh notifications from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives shall authorise
The stock market snapped its record-setting streak on Wednesday due to emerging economic concerns as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) attached a new condition for reaching a Staff-Level Agreement for a new loan. Consequently, the benchmark index fell below 80,000 due to aggressive profit-taking despite massive foreign buying. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed
As Pakistan seeks a multibillion-dollar bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to stabilise its chronically ailing economy, the global lender has suggested imposition of a standard individual income tax rate of up to 45% on agriculture income – something that may end the disparity in income tax regime without the need to amend the Constitution. The condition is part of the structura
Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb on Wednesday highlighted the reforms undertaken in Pakistan’s energy sector and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) including the privatisation of state companies. At a meeting with a delegation of Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings at the Finance Division, the minister underscored the confidence shown by multilateral institutions through the p
A study of Pakistan’s power tariff for end-consumers reveals that domestic households and businesses are being unexpectedly charged hidden costs, including US inflation and interest on circular debt. These factors significantly raise the power price for end-users to unaffordable levels, necessitating the government to renegotiate power purchase agreements (PPA) with the power plant operators soon.