ISLAMABAD: The federal government is working on a mini-budget including some tough measures like imposing a “flood levy” and increasing duty on petroleum products.
The “economic road map” was shared with the National Security Committee (NSC) Monday after the body took “major decisions” to revive the economy and provide relief to the people.
The NSC, which held two sessions on Friday and Monday deliberating the country’s economic and security situation, underscored that comprehensive “national security” revolves around economic security and that sovereignty or dignity comes under stress without self-sufficiency and economic independence.
The forum undertook a comprehensive view of the ongoing economic situation vis-à-vis challenges being faced by the common people of Pakistan, particularly the lower and middle-income classes.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar briefed the NSC about the economic stability roadmap of the government including the status of discussions with international financial institutions, exploring other financial avenues based on mutual interests as well as relief measures for common people.
In a separate statement Monday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the NSC took some major decisions after hours-long deliberations.
“Two of them stand out: State of Pakistan will adopt zero tolerance policy for terrorists challenging its writ. Peace is non-negotiable. Two, the economic roadmap will revive the economy and provide relief to the people.”
It was learnt that during the NSC meeting, it was decided to slap “flood levy” in the range of 1 to 3% through the promulgation of a presidential ordinance and firm up a proposal for unveiling the mini-budget.
The proposal is expected to be finalized within the ongoing week.
The committee approved the rationalization of imports and now the government is all set to slap a flood levy in the range of 1 to 3% to curtail imports and fetch Rs60 billion into the second half (Jan-June) period of the current fiscal year.
The finance minister, according to the publication, is likely to grant assent to the mini-budget proposals within the next two to three days after which a presidential ordinance will be promulgated.
“An important meeting is expected to be held on Tuesday (today) for finalizing proposals related to the upcoming mini-budget,” said one top official on the condition of anonymity.
So far, no other proposals could be finalized yet mainly because the government is in a catch-22 situation, as it is quite hard for the policy-makers to impose additional taxes at a time when the country is facing stagflation, Geo News reported.
The CPI-based inflation stood at over 25%, while the real GDP growth was projected to come down from 5% to less than 2% for the current fiscal year.
Read more: Prime Minister Shehbaz hopes ‘major decisions’ of NSC to revive economy, curb terrorism
