ISLAMABAD: To meet the IMF’s conditions, Pakistani government led by Nawaz Sharif has put on hold its mega initiatives of Metro Bus projects for Islamabad and Karachi and the much-touted bullet train, costing Rs115bn, it is learnt.
“The first victim of fiscal consolidation under the IMF’s conditionalities has again been the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) which might be slashed to the tune of Rs115bn by putting on hold new initiatives envisioned by the government at the time of budget 2013-14,” official sources said yesterday.
When contacted, one top official of the Planning Commission on Thursday said nothing was clear yet on this account as these mega development schemes under new initiatives would only be undertaken by the government if the FBR achieved its desired tax collection target of Rs2,475bn.
“The new initiatives of Rs115bn into PSDP have been linked with the performance of FBR’s tax collection as in case of a shortfall these schemes will be shelved at least for the current fiscal year,” said the official.
Internews
