Daily Times

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Mohammad Ishaq Dar Wednesday said that the government was working to present a business and people-friendly budget for 2023-24.

He said this in a meeting with a delegation from Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Sarhad Chambers of Commerce on Budget 2023-24 proposals, said a press release issued here.

SAPM on Finance Tariq Bajwa, SAPM on Revenue Tariq Mehmood Pasha, Chairman RRMC Ashfaq Yousif Tola, Secretary Finance, Chairman FBR, senior officers from Finance Division and FBR attended the meeting.

The delegation appreciated the minister for inviting the budget proposals from the Chambers of Commerce and discussing the current economic situation of the country. The delegation gave proposals for the upcoming Federal Budget in light of various issues being faced them.

They extended complete support to the government in its efforts to boost the economic and business activities in Pakistan.

Ishaq Dar welcomed the delegation and shared the economic and financial outlook of the country and expressed the resolve of the government to overcome the challenges and set the economy towards growth.

The minister welcomed the budget proposals given by the members of the delegation and assured the business leaders that government would provide all possible assistance to the business community for economic stability and growth. He reiterated the importance of business community and appreciated their efforts and contribution to the economy of the country.

The delegation thanked the minister for considering their budget proposals.

The delegation included Saqib Rafiq, Sohail Altaf, Ahsan Bakhtawari, Aqib Jamil, Shahrukh Khan, Faad Waheed, Khalid Iqbal Malik, Ijaz abbasi, Mian Ramzan, Najam Rehan, Dr. Sarosh and others.

Meanwhile, Ishaq Dar asserted that the country was not on the verge of a financial crisis and “will absolutely not default”.

Addressing the fears during a gathering at the Federal Board of Revenue in Islamabad, the finance minister commended his economic team for its “efforts and hard work”, pointing out that the country had recorded a current account surplus for the months of March and April at $750 million and $18m, respectively.

Regarding the ongoing negotiations with the IMF for release of the long-awaited bailout tranche, Dar said his team had completed all the technical work and prior actions required for the completion of the ninth review. He stressed that there was a “sincere effort” on his and his team’s part to complete the IMF’s ongoing programme and said they delay was “unfortunate”. The review should have been completed earlier, he added. Dar said the country had repaid $5.5 billion of its commercial loans. Of those, he said China had rolled over $2bn once it “understood” that Pakistan had completed its requirements for the release of funds by the IMF.

Regarding the rest of the $3.5bn from non-Chinese commercial banks, Dar said: “We are expecting that a substantial part of that [loan] facility will be returned once the [IMF] staff level agreement or board meeting is completed because it is always renewed and they (banks) are always there to do business.”