Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has once again said the government doesn’t plan to increase the prices of petroleum products. Talking to the media at the Karachi airport, he said that Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif had ruled out the possibility of ending the subsidies.
“It will not happen. I have refused. Shehbaz Sharif sahib has refused. Nawaz Sharif sahib has refused,” said Ismail. “I am assuring you that I will not agree to [the terms] that Shaukat Tarin agreed to.”
He said that according to the deal finalised by former finance minister Shaukat Tarin, Pakistan would have to raise the price of diesel by over Rs150 and petrol by Rs100.
Miftah said that Imran Khan took a loan of Rs20,000 billion, which is 80% of the entire amount of loans taken in 71 years of Pakistan’s history.
He further stated that former planning and development minister Asad Umar caused Pakistan a loss of 9.1%, which was a record loss in 52 years.
“Pakistan exported wheat when we [PML-N] left the government but today the country is importing wheat,” Miftah said.
A team comprising State Bank of Pakistan and Federal Board of Revenue officials, as well as Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghous Pasha and the finance secretary, are already in Doha to negotiate with the IMF.
The talks began on May 18. At the time, Ismail had told the IMF that the government understood the current economic crisis and agreed that it would have to take “tough decisions” while mitigating the effects of inflation on middle to low-income groups.
