Efforts afoot to provide maximum relief to people in upcoming budget: Musadik Malik

Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik said Saturday that all efforts are underway to provide maximum relief to people in the upcoming budget, Radio Pakistan reported.

Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, he stated that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed all the ministries to ensure maximum relief from inflation.

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Musadik Malik said the country is heading towards development despite numerous challenges including floods and global circumstances.

The minister said people will see a significant reduction in the inflation rate in the coming days.

He highlighted that the rate of inflation in the country has come down to almost 17 percent from around 37 percent.

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Musadik Malik said food inflation was around forty percent last year which has now decreased to almost eleven percent.

He further said a thirty percent increase in tax collection has also been witnessed this year.

Pakistan is expected to present the financial year 2024/25 annual budget on June 10, two government sources said on Friday, ahead of seeking a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan.

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The budget was originally due to be presented on June 7 but was delayed because of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s scheduled visit to Beijing from June 4 to June 8, said the two sources, a top official at the finance ministry and an official close to the prime minister.

An IMF mission held two weeks of technical and policy level talks with Pakistani officials before it left last week to discuss fiscal consolidation measures to lay the groundwork for the new loan.

The talks made significant progress towards reaching a staff-level agreement for an extended fund facility, the IMF said after concluding the talks.