Islamabad:
The government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif remains undecided on two critical political issues – whether it is the two nationals to hold key positions in the Pakistan State Bank (SBP) and impose a carbon tax to brake the emissions.
The government on Tuesday postponed decisions again on the two issues during two distinct consecutive meetings – one presided over by the Prime Minister and the other by the Darrier Minister Ishaq Dar.
At the meeting of the cabinet, Prime Minister Shehbaz, for the third consecutive period, postponed a decision on the authorization of two nationals to occupy the posts of governor, governors and SBP directors.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Dar chaired another uncompromising meeting on the carbon tax.
However, the main government officials told L’Express PK Press Club that there was a strong thrust in the government to increase the existing RS60 -per -sample rate per liter to compensate for part of the future reduction in diesel and petrol prices.
Under the current law, oil withdrawal from diesel and high -speed petrol can be high at Rs70 per liter. An increase in RS10 per liter would generate 15 billion additional rupees per month for the government, which is struggling with huge income gaps.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also proposed to introduce a carbon tax of RS10 per liter over three years, starting with RS3 by liter the first year. This levy is part of the IMF conditions for the new climate resilience center of $ 1 billion, which Pakistan is currently negotiating.
According to sources, the government is considering both carbon tax and an increase in oil withdrawal simultaneously.
On Monday, the Prime Minister chaired a meeting on the issue but made no decision. He later returned the question to Ishaq Dar, who led another meeting on Tuesday, where the discussions remained uncompromising. The main discord is the use of the sample product, sources said.
The sources said that the Ministry of Climate Change wanted the tax product to mitigate climate impact. However, another point of view suggests using the product to compensate for the financial impact of the reduction in the sales tax on electricity bills from 18% to 10%.
In addition, concerns has also been raised that Pakistan could, in the future, be affected by the mechanism of adjustment of the carbon borders of the European Union (CBAM), which imposes pricing measures on goods imported at high carbon intensity.
In addition, imposing a carbon carbon sample remains a challenge because it takes up provincial jurisdiction.
Double national
Meanwhile, for the third time, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif blocked the Ministry of Finance’s proposal to allow two nationals to be appointed as governors, sub-government and members of the SBP monetary policy committee.
At the meeting of the cabinet, the Prime Minister said he would have a separate discussion on the issue and would not approve of it immediately.
Previously, a cabinet committee had unanimously recommended to make the two nationals eligible for these positions. However, the Federal Cabinet recently postponed the approval of the bill on changes in the Banque de l’Etat of Pakistan 2024.
According to sources, at the last meeting of the cabinet, the Prime Minister expressed his reservations about the relaxation of the legal prohibition to appoint the two nationals to key stations of the SBP.
Under existing laws, the two nationals are prohibited from becoming members of the Parliament and, in 2022, a similar restriction was imposed on the management and development of SBP policies.
The cabinet committee had proposed to delete article 13-A of the SBP law, which was then presented before the firm last week.
Article 13-A stipulates that no one can become Governor, Sub-Governor, Director or Member of the SBP if “is a deputy or a provincial assembly, or a local government or has dual nationality”.
This restriction on the two nationals was initially imposed in January 2022 following major amendments to the SBP law influenced by the IMF and the preferences of the former governor.
The new amendment proposes to remove the term “dual nationality” from this section, erect effectively from the restriction.
One of the former deputy governors of the SBP, Dr. Inayat Husain, is a double national who finished his mandate on November 8. Given its experience and its important role within the SBP, the government was interested in keeping it for a new five -year term.
