Govt turns to parliament after Alvi ‘refuses’ ordinance
Despite its attempt to expedite passage of fiscal measures mandated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government was forced to head to parliament on Tuesday after President Arif Alvi “advised” Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to take parliament into confidence over the Rs170 billion in new taxes that are being levied. Soon after the president’s ‘refusal’, a cabinet meeting was convened to approve the tax amendment bill — Finance Bill 2023 — which would be tabled in both houses of parliament on Wednesday (today), as per a statement issued by the PM Office after the meeting. The statement added that an ‘austerity package’ targeting government expenditure was also in its final stages. Interestingly, hours before Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was reportedly snubbed by the president, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf adjourned a joint sitting of parliament until Feb 28. For the government, it is a race against time as it wants to implement tax measures by Feb 15 to secure the early release of an IMF tranche much needed to beef up shrinking foreign exchange reserves. In light of this urgency, the National Assembly and Senate will meet in the evening today to take up the bill. A statement on Twitter by the President’s Office said that sessions of both houses of parliament have been summoned to meet today (Wednesday).