Petrol subsidy: Musadik says govt committed to address IMF concern
Pakistan
In an interview with Bloomberg, Malik said the government planned to subsidise petrol for the poor
(Web Desk) – Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik has said that the government would try to address the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concerns on petroleum subsidy announced by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
In an interview with Bloomberg aired on Tuesday night, Malik said the government put forward a plan to subsidise petrol for the poor and charge the rich a little higher. The plan was envisaged on the pattern of natural gas subsidy the government negotiated with the IMF, he added.
Justifying the gas subsidy, Malik said “we thought we would charge the rich a lit bit more, and the poor people would be given a little bit of relief [on petrol price].”
Regarding concerns of the IMF, he said that the government was “open to sit with them” and satisfy their concerns.
With regard to petroleum scheme, the government would answer IMF’s queries and concerns, and make sure that the donor completely understand what we are trying to do, he added.
The minister's remarks come as Pakistan is engaged with the Washington-based lender to resume its bailout programme that has been stalled since November last.
Various measures, including a floating exchange rate, additional taxes, and hike in energy tariffs, have failed to convince the IMF to resume the bailout.
Malik also expressed government’s commitment on circular debt.
“Right now there is a zero contribution to the circular debt, so we have ceased the flow of circular debt,” he said.
Regarding the upcoming elections, the minister repeated the government’s claim that it would take place by the end of the year.
The minister admitted that inflation remains “high”.
Malik claimed that the (PDM) government inherited an economy in tatters, and working hard to restructure it. “So we are reasonably confident that as we move forward we will be able to provide a little bit of relief [to the masses],” he concluded.
