ISLAMABAD: Due to increasing political tensions, the government has so far withdrawn a small budget that includes the Fourth Tax Laws Amendment Bill, in the state cabinet and decided to continue consulting with Prime Minister Imran Khan to formulate a new strategy.
The introduction of a small budget has been seen as a bitter pill for the PTI-led government. The government wants to show the IMF that it will introduce a smaller budget through Presidential Ordinance but Fund officials rejected the proposal to get parliamentary approval for two important bills, including the Tax Laws Amendment Bill (Fourth Amendment) and the SBP Self-Regulation Bill. -IMF will be in jeopardy. the announcement of the Presidential Ordinance of the withdrawal of the GST release to collect R350 billion from the national kit every year because the government may find it difficult to pass such a piece of money with the support of its political allies.
The IMF has rejected a proposal to announce a Presidential Ordinance earlier but the government appears to have no choice but to contact the IMF again for approval. The government wants the proclamation of this law to be approved until the next budget and to withdraw the release from GST as part of the next budget under the 2022 Finance Bill.
The two bills are still awaiting parliamentary approval otherwise the revitalization of the IMF plan will not be easy. A senior official said Cabinet could not consider Pakistan State Bank (SBP) Autonomy Bill Bill in Tuesday’s meeting because the state law minister was not present at the meeting. Therefore, the Cabinet’s approval of the work completed by the Cabinet Committee on Commercial Legislation could not be pursued. Second, the Tax Laws Amendment Bill (Fourth) was repealed because the government could not resist it when the CPI-based inflation stood at 11.53 percent in November 2021. The second thought came after the crisis after the crisis. severe defeat in local government elections in many PTI constituencies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan has advised the repeal of the Tax Laws Amendment Bill (Thursday) at today’s cabinet and decided to develop a new strategy to address this issue. The government is frustrated with the latest political developments in the KP due to its defeat, ”official sources confirmed to The News on Tuesday. Official sources said Prime Minister Imran Khan would soon hold a consultation meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Tarin’s adviser and other members of the economic team to develop a new strategy to address these difficult issues.
Another senior official said they were still trying to meet the January 12, 2022 deadline to meet all the requirements imposed by IMF staff and to hold a meeting of the Fund’s executive committee to finalize the Sixth Review and release of $ 1. billion dollars under the Extended Fund Facility. “We will also negotiate with the IMF for permission to declare a Presidential Ordinance to end the release of GST. The Pakistani authorities are now in Catch 22, they have no idea how to proceed because without the IMF plan, economic hardship will increase in the coming months, ”concluded official sources.