International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has once again said that the IMF is only asking Pakistan to collect more taxes from the wealthy and protect the poor.
The IMF made this statement while talking to reporters after meeting with Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on the sidelines of the 78th UNGA session.
“What we are asking in our program is please collect more taxes from the wealthy and please protect the poor people of Pakistan. I do believe that this is in line with what people in Pakistan would like to see for the country,” Georgieva said in a short statement.
In a post on X, Georgieva said that there was agreement during the meeting on the vital need for strong policies to ensure stability, foster sustainable and inclusive growth, prioritize revenue collection, and protection for the most vulnerable in Pakistan.
Very good meeting with Pakistan’s PM @anwaar_kakar today on 🇵🇰’s economic prospects. We agreed on the vital need for strong policies to ensure stability, foster sustainable and inclusive growth, prioritize revenue collection, and protection for the most vulnerable in Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/YkVpju4UqY
— Kristalina Georgieva (@KGeorgieva) September 20, 2023
Earlier this year, the IMF MD issued a similar statement when she said that the IMF has asked Pakistan to raise tax revenues and have a fairer distribution of pressures by moving subsidies only toward people who really need them.
At the time she said it shouldn’t be that the wealthy benefit from the subsidies, it should be the poor who benefit from them. She emphasized that the IMF is very clear that it wants the poor people of Pakistan to be protected.
Prime Minister Kakar, in a post on X after the meeting said that he had a constructive dialogue with the IMF MD that emphasized extending our mutual commitment towards bolstering economic stability and growth in Pakistan.
Had a constructive dialogue with Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF, at the #UNGA78, that emphasized extending our mutual commitment towards bolstering economic stability and growth in Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/u8kJX8Eqga
— Anwaar ul Haq Kakar (@anwaar_kakar) September 20, 2023
It is pertinent to mention here that the current caretaker government and previously the collation government headed by Shehbaz Sharif has claimed that the government cannot provide relief in taxes as it is in an IMF program.
However, this is the second time that the IMF MD has said that the Fund wants Pakistan to collect more taxes from the rich and protect the poor.
Back in July, IMF approved a 9-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Pakistan for an amount of about $3 billion to support the authorities’ economic stabilization program.
she has no idead how peoplw of tge land of the pure (incompetents) work.
poor english improve it or write in native language
Bro now even the rich are poor, they have started to use Mira/Pixis nowadays due to high petrol prices.
Tax themselves? Good one!
The real question here is whether the Pakistan government can tell who is poor and who is rich. How do they figure this out? Do they use information from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), even though more than 90% of people in Pakistan don’t report their true incomes there? The whole system relies on fake numbers and models that don’t accurately show how the country really works.
For example, a person who sells French fries makes about 70,000 to 80,000 rupees every month and doesn’t have to pay any taxes. A tea shop owner makes around 300,000 rupees per month (but doesn’t report it to the FBR) and also pays no taxes because they are considered poor.
On the other hand, a recent Master’s degree graduate starts with a basic salary of 27,500 rupees. It might take them 10 to 15 years (if they’re lucky) to earn around 300,000 rupees per month. When they reach that point, they have to pay about 36,250 rupees in taxes every month, which adds up to 435,000 rupees per year. Even though they’re called rich, they don’t receive any government benefits whatsoever.
You have opened the eyes of common man.
The solution I suggest is this.
1- Eliminate cash
2- Charge equal taxes on bank income at end of year from each user on year profit if you don’t eliminate cash then people will put money in their homes.
Excellent idea but no one who is running this country would want to do that because they themselves would be the one getting most affected by this change. In my opinion, only 20% people would agree on this, rest of all are corrupted down to the core and form very tight supportive system for each other trying to evade taxes leading this country to disaster as it has been since independence.
Why don’t event start by changing the 5000 note first like our neighbors did. Its high time we should learn from them instead of boosting the same old narrative.
Basic issue is lack of education not all shopkeepers can run digital money I hope government can invest in it to educate people for basic digital payments. Banning 5000 note is good idea also you can change notes design so old notes come out. In neighborhood people can buy food, vegetables from cart and they are using digital payments here people are not educated. If governments is not willing to eliminated cash then government will not be able to deduct taxes they will be adding random taxes like they do in electricity and hope.
IMF should ask the government to eliminate the free fuel, electricity, vehicles, protocol and other visible and hidden privileges given to government functionaries and ruling elite, both civil and military. That would itself be enough to pay back it’s loans.
Arif you are wrong we want our PM to fly on commercial flights because it is matter of respect what you want them to travel by road. You don’t understand basics of business when there was covid prices of oil in country don’t go down. Nothing will be free. Many people can sponsor government they are not many people in it.