Vice Chairman PTI Shah Mahmood Qureshi today pointed out that the warnings he had given on the budget in his budget speech in the National Assembly seem to have proven correct as the IMF has not accepted the government figures and claims in their latest talks with the newly elected government of Pakistan. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in a statement released today, reminded that he had warned the government that their FBR target of Rs 2475 billion showing a raise of 23% over the last financial year was unrealistic and now the IMF has told the same to the government. Again, as Shah Mahmood had predicted, the revenue collection up to 30th June would only be Rs 1960-1970 billion and not the hyped up figure of Rs 2007 billion the government was claiming has also been proven correct as the IMF has said it will not be more than Rs 1980 at best. The PTI Vice Chairman said all of the government’s calculations have already been proven incorrect. Moreover, he pointed out that as he had stated, the increase in GST applied retrospectively was illegal and unconstitutional and the SC had endorsed this viewpoint also. In the same way, the tax to GDP ratio calculated by the government for the coming fiscal year has also been rejected as impossible to achieve by the IMF given the content of the budget presented by the government and this point was again highlighted by Mr Qureshi on behalf of PTI. In fact, according to Mr Qureshi, the PTI position on the non achievability of macroeconomic targets given the lack of any growth and investment initiatives in the budget has also been vindicated since even the IMF has made the same objection. Mr Qureshi also pointed out that not only does the PTI position on the budget have a solid foundation but PTI has also made it clear that the IMF and the Pakistani nation do not have the same objectives. While the IMF is only interested in reducing fiscal deficit, controlling inflation and stabilizing exchange rates, the Pakistani people’s main objective is to revitalize economic growth through reduction of poverty and creation of new jobs. So the government should reassess the worth of going to the IMF in the first place.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 07:01:06 +0000
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