Hammad Azhar says 'inflation to go down in 2022'

LAHORE: Federal Energy Minister Hammad Azhar said on Saturday said that a historical wave of inflation has hit the world and it will go down in 2022, ARY News reported.

Hammad Azhar, while addressing a public gathering in Lahore, said that the federal government is fully aware of difficulties being faced by the nationals due to a hike in inflation.

He said that the government has distributed health insurance cards to each family and established a network of panahgahs amid the new wave of inflation besides disbursing Rs200 billion relief fund under the Ehsaas program.

Hammad Azhar said that the government is going to issue health cards to all families of Punjab. He predicted that inflation will go down in 2022 and the production of wheat and flour crops will be historical.

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He added that the country is expected to witness 5 to 6 per cent economic growth this year.

Earlier on December 30, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin had rejected speculations regarding imposing additional taxes on the common man through Finance Supplementary Bill, 2021, saying “the bill just aimed at reviewing tax exemptions worth Rs342 billion.”

Addressing a news conference flanked by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib, the finance minister had said that tax exemptions worth just Rs2 billion will be reviewed under the finance bill that was tabled in National Assembly.

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“No sales tax has been imposed under the bill on tractors, medicines and fertilizers,” he maintained and added that the government proposed only Rs2 billion tax exemptions on the items that can be related to the common man which would have a very negligible impact on inflation.

The finance minister went on to say that International Monetary Fund (IMF) had asked the federal govt to impose Rs700bn new taxes but the “incumbent government decided against imposing taxes on food and other essential items and brought it down to Rs 343 billion”.

Speaking on the SBP bill tabled in the NA, Shaukat Tarin said, “Under the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2021, the SBP will be held accountable to Parliament.”