ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Asad Umar has stated the government will table the Finance Bill in the next National Assembly Session to address the financial slide in the coming week.
It expects to table recommended measures effective by the start of next month after receiving clearance from the Senate, reports Dawn.
And decision regarding approaching the IMF will be decided after receiving clearance from the Senate.
In an interview to Dawn, Finance Minister Umar said the government was fully aware of the country’s economic susceptibilities since it has concluded the initial assessment exercise.
Mr Umar said the finalization of remedial proposals was underway which will be presented in shape of a fiscal bill in the next parliamentary session hopefully, set to be held next Friday on 14th September.
The finance minister added once the National Assembly approves the bill it would then be sent to the Senate.
As per the law, the Senate is given 14 days’ time to vet the proposals after which it has to be returned, said Mr Umar.
“We intend to get it enacted as soon as the NA receives it back for the new steps to become operational from Oct 1,” said the finance minister.
He dismissed the speculation that the newly installed government had shut off the IMF window permanently and said the government was considering every option to manage the external sector vulnerabilities.
Furthermore, the finance minister told routine engagement with the donor was going on and a staff delegation of IMF for post-programme review is set to visit Islamabad in the first week of October.
The finance minister clearly stated the decision regarding seeking an IMF programme would be taken later.
“We have been working on parallel lines. Besides IMF we have also been exploring bilateral options of securing foreign exchange inflows. We have shortlisted some countries for exploring possibilities,” he told.
Also, he told feedback from the members of the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) will be sought will be taken in this regard.
He contested the impression of an impasse in Islamabad and shared the finance ministry had a series of meetings to take note of the situation in the last three weeks.
And the reports prepared regarding key economic fundamentals were discussed and shared with the State Bank team and Prime Minister Imran Khan has been updated in this regard.
