Everything cannot be fixed in two years, says Shaukat Tareen

Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen has said that everything cannot be put on the right track in two years.

Speaking on Naseem Zehra@8 programme of 24NewsHD TV on Monday, Shaukat Tareen said he would make a new medium-term strategic paper, which would replace the existing paper. He said he would review the economic plan of the government and also talk to the IMF in this regard. He said that Pakistan wanted an adjustment with the IMF rather than getting out of the programme. He said that he would meet the representatives of IMF before the budget.

The finance minister said he would also hold talks with the opposition parties with the permission of Prime Minister Imran Khan before the budget. He said he had already got a message from the PML-N and PPP in this regard. He said the government would set up private boards at Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan Railways and the PIA and would give them full authority. He said the government would launch most of the project with the public-private partnership.

Shaukat Tareen said the government wanted to decrease the direct tax. He said that he would give tax relief to various sectors, which would generate more revenue. He said that decreasing the circular debt was his target. He said that $21 million of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank haven't been spent yet. He said the government was setting up commodity warehouses to keep strategic reserves of wheat and sugar, etc.