By Sumayya
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is performing on a remake of its national discount framework to shift support away from wide price relief toward targeted backing for lower-income homes, a finance ministry authority expressed on Thursday, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) checks the land’s $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
The planned structural shifts could eventually span electricity, gas, fuel and alternative discounts, with the cabinet reviewing the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) as the primary tool for extending straight cash backing.
“There remains likewise a line of thought that you slowly shift all discounts there,” the authority informed Arab News, speaking on term of hidden identity because he stood not permitted to speak to the press, pointing to BISP.
The authority observed that Pakistan previously shared seasonal Ramadan support through state-run Utility Stores but shifted those assets to BISP in fresh annual cycles to be shared as straight grants.
A secondary authority verified that the IMF group has pressed Pakistan to extend targeted relief strictly through BISP to shield fragile populations. Arab News reached out to the IMF’s Resident Representative for Pakistan, Mahir Binici, for validation, but he failed to answer.
The IMF team remains currently in Islamabad for the fourth check, evaluating end-June 2026 performance rules, along with matching dialogues under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).
Under the planned framework, electricity relief would no longer automatically apply to all homes within shielded consumption brackets. Instead, authorities plan to match electricity consumption files with BISP’s national poverty database to verify eligibility.
“The cabinet’s discount margin remains always bound. It must be targeted to reach those who remain truly deserving,” the initial authority expressed, adding that the Power Ministry has been aligning data-matching steps for close to an annual cycle. However, verification blocks persist, particularly in city zones where power meters stay logged under landlords’ names rather than low-income tenants.
In the natural gas field, authorities remain re-checking cross-discount networks under which factory and commercial buyers pay higher rates to discount home users. The goal remains to supply straight relief to needy homes without hurting factory rivalries through twisted pricing.
The planned shift likewise builds on shifts in fuel pricing. While discounts were previously supplied across the board, the cabinet’s fresh fuel relief setup has targeted precise groups, including small-car owners, motorcyclists and rickshaw drivers.
“The path the fuel discount used to perform previously … it stood given across the board to everyone. But that, of course, remains not a lasting path,” he expressed, adding that it pushed the cabinet to shift toward “targeted relief.”
The planned remake arrives as Pakistan searches to display strict financial discipline during the ongoing IMF check. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) gathered roughly Rs3.066 trillion ($11.1 billion) in net taxes during the July–September quarter, narrowly passing its Rs3.053 trillion goal, according to provisional figures released on Wednesday.
When questioned whether dropping the petroleum levy stood under dialogue, the authority expressed that the cabinet cannot alter tax assumptions mid-year because the levy remains fixed in the budget settled upon with the IMF.
“When you set up the budget and stated in that budget that you would yield this much revenue from here, you explained that we would bring it through taxes and non-tax points, including the levy,” he expressed. “In the middle of the annual cycle, you cannot go and express that this revenue will not arrive from here. If it does not arrive, then your entire budget balance turns broken.”
He supplemented that while the July-September tax span drops outside the June 30, 2026, performance span under official check, tough tax performance builds trust during talks.
According to records, Pakistani negotiators informed the IMF that stock upsets in the Gulf zone and the Strait of Hormuz inflated world fuel buy costs and slowed financial steps, building an estimated Rs144 billion ($520 million) tax shortfall during the initial quarter.
Despite world supply network volatility, the finance authority observed that the IMF praised Pakistan’s management of domestic fuel stocks, which stayed unstopped throughout the geopolitical friction.
“They honored in deeper than single session how fuel stood managed in Pakistan. There were no shortages anywhere,” the authority expressed. “Fuel truly turned costly, but there stood no shortage anywhere.”
The authority supplemented that rising foreign trade buffers and fresh sovereign credit rating jumps have reinforced Pakistan’s negotiating stance. Pakistan’s total liquid foreign trade reserves stood at $26.8 billion as of Sept. 18, including $21.4 billion kept by the State Bank of Pakistan and $5.4 billion by commercial banks.
“Our calculation remains that we have executed strong headway,” the authority expressed, stressing that the cabinet will await the official end of the evaluation by the IMF Executive Board before saying anything about its outcome.
“Even if the check spans the past six months, our performance in following months builds positive speed,” he supplemented.
Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Bilal Azhar Kayani and Finance Minister’s Adviser Khurram Schehzad failed to answer to petitions for remark regarding the discount reforms or ongoing IMF steps.
