Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar stated during a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance in Islamabad that Pakistan would not have defaulted on its financial obligations, even if it had not been part of the IMF program. He attributed the delays in financial matters to external financing through the IMF. Minister Dar mentioned that the former government had deviated from the terms of the IMF’s seventh review, and the present government combined the seventh and eighth reviews to address the situation.
He also revealed that Pakistan had a contingency plan (plan B) in case it did not participate in the IMF program. Without the IMF program, the government would not have imposed new taxes, but the current situation compelled them to do so.
Minister Ishaq Dar further informed the committee that the Ministry of Finance’s website contained information, specifically in Table Two, stating that Pakistan had agreed not to grant any form of tax amnesty.
The meeting, chaired by Qaiser Ahmad Sheikh, highlighted that when the budget was presented on June 9, it was initially indicated that no new taxes would be imposed. However, during the negotiations with the IMF, new taxes were agreed upon. The alleged deviation from the previous government’s agreement with the IMF resulted in Pakistan’s inability to secure loans from various institutions, including the IMF.