Islamabad, June 24: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said the government will levy a 10 per cent ‘super tax’ on large-scale industries in a bid to save the nation from going bankrupt and tackle the ongoing economic crisis.
Following a meeting with his economic team, Sharif said the coalition government has taken some “tough decisions’ regarding the federal budget for the next fiscal year 2022-23. “I want to brief the people about those decisions and the actual (economic) situation of the country,” he said, highlighting the two major reasons behind these decisions, Geo News reported.
He said, “Our first motive is to provide relief to the masses and to reduce the burden of inflation on the people and facilitate them”.
“Our second motive is to protect the country from going bankrupt,” Sharif said.
He alleged that the country has been devastated due to the “incompetency and corruption” of the former Imran Khan-led government.
He claimed that the decisions, which have been, taken now will save Pakistan from being bankrupt.
Meanwhile, PM Shehbaz further added that other motives included stabilisation of the economy and prosperity of the county, Geo News report said.
The 10 per cent ‘super tax’ has been slapped on cement, steel, sugar, oil and gas, fertiliser, banking, textile, chemical, beverage, and automobile industries.
He said: “One per cent tax has been imposed on people earning over 150 million Pakistani rupees, 2 per cent on those earning over Rs 200 million, 3 per cent on those earning over Rs 250 million and 4 per cent on those earning over Rs 300 million.”
“If the IMF doesn’t put forward any other conditions, I am hopeful that we will be able to reach a staff-level agreement with them soon,” he said regarding the International Monetary Fund programme.
