ISLAMABAD: The Finance Ministry clarified that Pakistan’s IMF programme had not been suspended and neither has the World Bank withheld any loans for the country.
In a statement, the ministry said that the IMF team will visit Pakistan in August and review the economic performance of the country.
The ministry also said that Pakistan completed all the targets given by the Fund in March and claimed Pakistan had an excellent performance during the outgoing fiscal year.
On the World Bank, the ministry said that the lender has not stopped any loans to the country, adding that it approved a loan for Pakistan a day earlier.
Criticizing Miftah Ismail, the ministry said that the former finance minister had “destroyed” the country’s economy, adding that the PML-N was responsible for the IMF loan programme.
The statement said that the government is not shifting the burden of the rising oil prices to the consumers despite the increase in oil prices in the global market. It clarified that the government is trying to stabilise the oil prices.
It added that sanctions on Iran are expected to be lifted, which will lead to a decrease in oil prices in the international market.
The ministry also said that Pakistan is adding the final touches to a deal with Saudi Arabia to get oil on credit.
The finance ministry further said that there was no truth in withholding Rs700 billion in tax refunds.
Earlier, former finance minister Miftah Ismail claimed that the World Bank has stopped its payments to Pakistan.
“These people (PTI ministers) have not met any IMF target in the last two years. They have suspended the IMF programme,” Ismail claimed further.
He called on the government to take back the decision to tax the government employees on medical allowance.
Ismail warned that the PTI government’s decision to give the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) powers to arrest people would lead to harassment of citizens.
“FBR’s tax inspector has been given the right to arrest people. This will not increase revenue, rather FBR will harass people,” said Ismail, in a press conference about the budget. He also said that the FBR is yet to refund Rs700 billion to the people.
The PML-N leader claimed that to the credit of his party president Shahbaz Sharif, the PTI government “made a U-turn” on taxing baby milk and food items. He also claimed that the Imran Khan government has illegally allocated Rs292 billion for privatisation.
Ismail said that the government has earmarked Rs610 billion from the petroleum levy. He said that as per the calculation that would mean that there would be Rs30.50 levy charge.
The PML-N leader said that this would mean an increase in petroleum prices and would ultimately lead to inflation.
