ISLAMABAD – Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Monday expressed reservationsover the “injustice” meted out to Pakistan by the International MonetaryFund (IMF) through the Extended Fund Facility for the financially-strappedcountry.

The newly-appointed finance minister expressed it during a meeting of theNational Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue, and EconomicAffairs. The meeting was chaired by the committee chairman, Faiz UllahKamoka.

He said that the IMF’s demand to raise power tariff is unjustified as thiscondition has hindered the growth of the country, adding that thecorruption is also on the rise. He said that such move caused inflation inthe country.

If the PTI government fails to increase the GDP growth to 5%, next fouryears of Pakistan will be at “God’s mercy”.

He said that the government is trying to highlight the matter with theglobal lender. The minister said that the government needs to take toughsteps to put the economy back on track.

He stressed on expanding the net instead of putting burden on existingtaxpayers. Tarin also called for introducing long term policies like China,Turkey and India to recover the national economy.

He also called for privatizing all institutions that are running in thelosses, besides lamenting that a meager chunk of budget is allocated foreducation and health.