Commission to investigate smuggling of urea
Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
Newly appointed Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said Wednesday that the subsidy allowed for petrol for the months of May and June would cost Rs96 billion, and the government cannot bear this burden.
Talking to journalists during “Meet the Press” here, the minister accompanied by Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Marriyum Aurangzeb said PTI’s government had left landmines for the incumbent government. “…by not taking tax on petrol and diesel, Imran Khan has put the Shehbaz Sharif-led government in trouble making petrol cheap is not a favour, it is the nation’s money through which they give subsidy,” the minister said.
The finance minister said the government is giving a subsidy of Rs52 on diesel and Rs21 on petrol, and due to this, Rs68 were paid off from the national exchequer in terms of April’s subsidy. “This is double the cost of administrative expenses of our civilian government. We cannot keep this up. The prime minister will have to take a decision in this regard,” he added. Ismail said the coalition government would make all-out efforts to restore the Extended Fund Facility program with the International Monetary Fund . “We will restore the program. If the government had to tighten its belt, it will do so,” he said, adding that no extra burden would be put on people.
The finance minister suggested that the government could reduce public sector development spending with other necessary budgetary discipline arrangements. He said the government would present a people-friendly and development-friendly budget despite all odds created by the PTI government. He expressed the hope that the value of the rupee would not slide further while the markets would also perform well. He said the PML-N had left growth rate at 6.1%, which was reduced to 1.9% in the first year of the PTI government.
, and negative one percent the following year. Likewise, he added, the Consumer Price Index based inflation .
