Ishaq Dar, the federal finance minister, on Thursday, announced subsidised electricity tariffs of Rs19.99 per unit for five export-oriented sectors, including textile, until the end of June 2023. The IMF has tentatively scheduled the upcoming review talks with the Pakistani authorities to begin on October 25.
We have offered a price of Rs19.99 per unit till June 2023 for five export-oriented sectors, including textiles, rather than fixing the power rate at 9 cents per dollar. For the current fiscal year 2022–2023, the Ministry of Finance will grant a subsidy of Rs90–Rs100 billion. Ishaq Dar, the federal minister of finance, stated, “We have created a fiscal space so that the budget deficit and primary deficit will be taken care of and would not enable exceeding from anticipated targets.
Ijaz Gohar and other textile magnates flanked Dar, who claimed there was no need to consult the IMF because he had created fiscal flexibility without increasing the budget or primary deficits.
He stated that the rupee had started to improve and that he firmly thought the real effective rate of the rupee was less than Rs200 versus the US dollar. “Now we have made an appeal to the businessmen to think in rupees instead of dollars,” he said
According to him, an improved exchange rate resulted in a Rs3,600 billion decrease in the nation’s public debt and liabilities. Dar responded to a question by stating that he and his staff would be leaving for Washington, D.C. on Monday to attend the IMF and World Bank’s annual meeting.
Later, he confirmed to The News that review talks with Pakistani officials will begin on October 25, 2022, as planned by the IMF review mission. Dar claimed that after nuclear explosions in 1998, the PMLN-led government implemented a market-based exchange rate based on the real effective exchange rate (REER).
He claimed that although the PTI-led government increased exports under the guise of devaluing the rupee, the increase was only $800 million, greatly increasing debt and obligations. He recalled that the targeted relief of Rs247 billion was provided with the condition that exports would increase as a result of the incentives that the PMLN-led government had provided in 2017, after saying goodbye to the IMF, and again in 2018, during the tenure of former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
He claimed that in order to defend their currencies, the UK, India, and Bangladesh intervened in the market. Recently, India used $100 billion, whereas Pakistan lacked the necessary reserves to do the same but was prohibited from haranguing speculators with it. Dar responded, “Imrando army will not succeed,” in response to a different question about the PTI’s anticipated march.
