WASHINGTON – Pakistan’s new Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has accepted arecommendation made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about reducingfuel subsidies.
The move, which will take the petroleum prices in Pakistan to another highlevel, aims at securing a tranche of loan from the global lender that hadexpressed concerns when former prime minister Imran Khan announced to notincrease petrol prices until June 2022.
Speaking at an event hosted by renowned US think tank Atlantic Council inWashington DC, Ismail said that he had good discussions with the globallender during its annual spring meetings.
“They’ve talked about removing the subsidy on fuel. I agree with them,”Ismail said.
“We can’t afford to do the subsidies that we’re doing. So we’re going tohave to curtail this,” he added.
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Ismail, who is also former IMF economist, accused former PM Imran Khan ofsetting up a trap for the new government by announcing heavy fuelsubsidies.
The finance minister, however, said that some targeted subsidies willcontinue in order to provide relief to poor segment of society amid risingglobal inflation.
