Aurangzeb ‘very optimistic’ of unlocking IMF deal after tax-laden budget ratified

With the President having approved the tax-heavy budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which starts on July 1, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb declared on Sunday that he was “very optimistic” about Pakistan receiving an IMF bailout.
The IMF plan serves as our guarantee for macroeconomic stability. We are pushing it ahead because it is unavoidable. The minister told reporters in Islamabad, “I’m very optimistic that we’ll be able to take it through the finish line for an Extended Fund Programme which is going to be larger and longer in nature.”
After nearly going into default last year, the cash-strapped federal government opted for a Rs18.9 trillion budget that was loaded with tax-raising measures in an attempt to receive another bailout from the IMF.

In the budget, the government has increased the taxes on the already burdened salaried class, bought exporters into the normal tax regime, increased the petroleum levy to Rs70, and imposed new taxes on the real estate sectors, among others, to increase the tax collection.