IMF conditions 2nd instalment of loan for Pakistan

Lahore, Dec. 21 (ANI): The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has decided to bail out Pakistan on a Rs. 100 billion reduction in the development budget and the complete withdrawal of the subsidy on electricity on the remaining portion of a loan.

Pakistan has to give the IMF a performance report for the first six months of the current fiscal year by January 15, quoted a private TV channel as saying.

The report has said the condition could be reached after a meeting between an IMF delegation and the government officials over the second instalment of the loan.

The channel claimed that that although government had given Rs 115 billion subsidy on electricity over the last five months, a price hike is very likely.

Speaking in a seminar of the Federal Board of Revenue in Lahore, Pakistan's Finance Adviser Shaukat Tareen denied any possibility of tax rate increase. But he admitted that steps would be taken to increase the number of taxpayers.

Tareen said that new tax policies are crucial for Pakistan in the wake of soaring inflation. (ANI)