ISLAMABAD: The government has decided not to borrow from State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) from July 01, 2019 due to high inflation concerns.
State Minister for Revenue Hammad Azhar while presenting budget 2019/2020 has said that the government would take all possible measures for minimal increase in prices.
If, however due to movement in international markets we are forced with any price increase we will ensure that consumers are protected to the extent possible.
Accordingly, we have made budgetary allocations to enhance social safety net for the vulnerable population.
Fighting inflation will be paramount for us. “We will tailor our fiscal and monetary policies, coordinate with the provinces and adopt administrative measures to fight this menace.”
The measures proposed for 2019-2020 budget shall be as follows:
Government borrowing from the State Bank is inflationary, the government will no longer use this facility with effect from 1 July 2019
Our medium-term inflation target will be in the range of 5 – 7 percent.
In addition, we will continue to focus on good governance and remain committed to fighting corruption. We will assign autonomy to our institutions, strengthen their capacity and choose their leadership on merit.
The year 2019-20 shall continue to be the period of stabilization. This is a difficult transition that we want to achieve within a minimum amount of time. We will try to minimize the adverse effects of any difficult decisions on our citizens.
