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.
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.
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.
