DAWN June 23, 2009 Tuesday
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ISLAMABAD, June 22: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has got nothing to do with the imposition of carbon tax in the budget, a representative of the Fund said on Monday.
Terming it an internal decision, he said Pakistan’s economic team saw it as an easy revenue source, generating more than Rs 130 billion.

“We cannot dictate Pakistan to impose tax on any sector. However, revenue generation in Pakistan is by all standards very low,”said IMF’s Resident Representative to Pakistan Paul Ross.

Talking to newsmen after speaking at the Business School of National University of Science and Technology (NUST) on the role of the IMF, Mr Ross said tax-to-GDP ratio in Pakistan was around nine per cent, which was negligible among growing economies.

He said the IMF was focusing on tax administration reforms. He said that only one per cent of population was paying taxes in Pakistan.

The question of providing additional assistance of $4 billion would be decided by the fund’s board, Mr Ross said. He, however, added that donors had already pledged more than $5 billion in Tokyo for the next two years to revive growth.

He said Pakistan was facing serious balance of payments problems because of massive external shocks in terms of rise in oil and food prices, worsening security environment and policy inaction in the early part of this government.

Highlighting features of IMF's stabilisation programme, he said it yielded positive results, expecially in bringing down inflation to 14 per cent from 25 per cent.

Speaking to students of the business school, Mr Ross mentioned several challenges that Pakistan would have to confront, which would require a strong commitment from the country's political leadership.

One of the challenges, he said, was governance. "For maintaining strong economic growth, good governance will be critical."

islamabad, june 22: the international monetary fund (imf) has got nothing to do with the imposition of carbon tax in the budget, a repre- sentative of the fund said on monday. terming it an internal decision, he said pakis- tan’s economic team saw it as an easy revenue source, generating more than rs 130 billion. “we cannot dictate pakistan to impose tax on any sector. however, revenue generation in pakistan is by all standards very low,”said imf’s resident representative to pakistan paul ross. talking to newsmen after speaking at the business school of national university of science and technology (nust) on the role of the imf, mr ross said tax-to-gdp ratio in pakistan was around nine per cent, which was negligible among growing economies. he said the imf was focusing on tax administra- tion reforms. he said that only one per cent of pop- ulation was paying taxes in pakistan. the question of providing additional assistance of $4 billion would be decided by the fund’s board, mr ross said. he, however, added that donors had already pledged more than $5 billion in tokyo for the next two years to revive growth. he said pakistan was facing serious balance of payments problems because of massive external shocks in terms of rise in oil and food prices, wor- sening security environment and policy inaction in the early part of this government. highlighting features of imf's stabilisation pro- gramme, he said it yielded positive results, expe- cially in bringing down inflation to 14 per cent from 25 per cent. speaking to students of the business school, mr ross mentioned several challenges that pakistan would have to confront, which would require a strong commitment from the country's political leadership.
one of the challenges, he said, was governance. "for maintaining strong economic growth, good governance will be critical."