Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has on Friday ruled out the chances of increase in power tariff in the coming budget. He has said that neither any new taxes are being imposed on remittances nor is the power tariff being increased. He said that next three years are of economic growth.
Addressing a ceremony in Islamabad, Ishaq Dar said that when the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) took over power, people were speculating that Pakistan would default.
“However, within 20 months only, Pakistan’s economy was first declared stable and then positive”, said Dar.
Ruling out the rumors of tax being imposed on remittances, Finance Minister said that the government had set the target of economic growth above 5% for the year but the target would not be achieved because of the sit-ins held from August to December and the flood in September last year.
Responding to a question, Ishaq Dar said that the government is not increasing the power tariff but bringing the tariff up to a reasonable level would help government reduce the losses it was incurring.
Dar also said that additional amount is being allocated for the Benazir Income Support Program in the budget.
