Ishaq Dar says no plans to slap new taxes on agriculture, constructor sectors

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday said no new tax is being imposed on agriculture and the construction sectors on the International Monetary Fund’s demand.

The government has already delivered on IMF’s prior actions and announced taxation measures of Rs215 billion rupees, Ishaq Dar said while presenting the details of the agreement with the IMF in the National Assembly.

Dar said the country’s foreign exchange reserves have reached fourteen billion dollars as a result of the government’s efforts.

The finance minister said $8.7 billion are in possession of State Bank of Pakistan and 5.3 billion dollars are held by the Commercial Banks.

Referring to the three billion dollars stand-by arrangement reached with the IMF and the financial assistance extended by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, he said we have made all the external payments in a timely manner.

He said it will be our effort to further enhance our foreign exchange reserves.

Ishaq Dar said it is our effort to bring down the inflation. He said that according to State Bank of Pakistan, the inflation will come down to 7 percent in two years’ time if the consistency in policies continued.

On the occasion, the finance minister also placed before the House the documents pertaining to the standby agreement reached with the IMF.