Islamabad, Pakistan – Web Desk: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has imposed 11 new conditions on Pakistan, including recurrent increases in gas and electricity prices, enhanced autonomy and transparency for the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and a massive hike in the petroleum levy.
Under the new structural benchmarks for the upcoming fiscal year, the IMF has proposed setting the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) tax collection target at 15,267 billion rupees. This would require an additional 430 billion rupees in taxes, of which 215 billion rupees would come from new taxes and 115 billion rupees through improved tax enforcement.
On the petroleum levy front, the government is expected to collect a staggering 1,727 billion rupees from the public in the next fiscal year.
Other key conditions include parliamentary approval of the federal budget, strengthening of anti-corruption and public procurement frameworks, improvements in tax administration, and the continuation of Pakistan’s unconditional cash transfer program (the Kafalat Program). The IMF also demanded a roadmap for gradual exchange rate autonomy and increased regulatory transparency.
Additional conditions include amendments to the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules, semi-annual and annual notifications for gas and electricity tariff hikes, complete elimination of special economic zones’ incentives by 2035, and the establishment of a Pakistan Regulatory Registry for business regulations at the federal level and in Islamabad.
