As it works to get PKR 100 billion in emergency finance to prevent a global default on oil and gas payments and maintain the staff-level deal with the IMF, Pakistan’s cash-strapped government has decided to charge an additional PKR 30 billion in taxes, according to a media report on Monday.
The choice was made on Sunday during an extra Cabinet meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), which Finance Minister Miftah Ismail presided over.
“For the smooth continuity of the oil and gas national supply chain and to avoid PSO from being default on international payments, the ECC decided to clear the outstanding payments accumulated during the period of the previous government,” it said.
According to the Dawn newspaper, increased revenue will be necessary to meet the primary budget surplus commitment of PKR 153 billion made to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
PSO’s receivables reached PKR 608 billion on July 28 according to sources in the Petroleum Division, including PKR 340 billion from Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), the report added.
According to the report, the ECC also voted to investigate decreasing price modifications from the current fortnightly pricing to a weekly or 10-day basis in order to reduce price uncertainty.
