Mini-budget: Imported cars, phones, petroleum products to become expensive

Based on the conditions it has agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government has prepared a mini-budget.

Among other measures, it will ban the imports of luxury cars for six months.

The government is also considering an amendment bill to abolish the tax exemptions of Rs350 billion.

The law ministry is expected to ratify the draft soon.

According to the sources, the government has proposed to increase the tax rate on expensive mobile phones including iPhones.

Apart from this, an increase in tax on imported food items, including butter and cheese, is also under consideration.

The petroleum prices are likely to go up by Rs15 to Rs20. The prices of dry milk and baby milk are also expected to increase by Rs100 and Rs500 respectively.

Once the mini-budget wins approval from the parliament, the prices of frozen meat and branded ghee are likely to go up by Rs200, sources claim.

In the federal budget, the government had lowered the duty on electric vehicles to encourage their use in the domestic market.

Moreover, tax exemptions on education and medicine are proposed to be maintained.

The final draft of the proposed mini-budget will be approved by the federal cabinet. According to government sources, a presidential ordinance could also be issued if needed.

Last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed to release the next loan tranche of $1b to Pakistan under the $6bn programme. However, a staff-level agreement reached between the Fund and the Pakistan government spells out tough conditions.

The agreement spells out a number of conditions agreed between the Fund and Pakistan.

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