Now the government is preparing to double down on the pain with a belt-tightening budget of tax hikes and spending cuts required to release a $1 billion tranche of International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout cash. “I never thought it would become so difficult to survive,” said Sibte Hasan, a 43-year-old construction supervisor from Lahore. Government officials are expected to release official figures this week when it presents a special supplementary budget to the cabinet. “My unit is not generating its targeted production because of expensive raw materials and high production costs,” he told Reuters. The debt-bound economy has long been hobbled by problems ranging from a wasteful and inefficient power sector to weak tax collection, poor productivity and minimal value-added exports.

Source: The Nation December 14, 2021 11:27 UTC