The PTI relief package will add to a fiscal deficit which we cannot affordat the moment,” Finance Secretary Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh told *Reuters*.
“Either it has to be rolled back or compensating reductions in otherexpenditures would be required to ensure that the primary balance agreedwith the IMF is achieved,” he said.
The primary budget balance excludes debt repayment obligations.
The fiscal deficit could go as high as 10% of gross domestic product,according to Sharif’s top economic adviser Miftah Ismail, widely expectedto be named finance minister.
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Sharif met his economic team on Thursday to tackle the subsidies.
