Pakistan has sought the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) consent to introduce a new tax in the capital to finance an RS213 billion medical complex as Islamabad struggles to find fiscal ways to end the project within three years. As an alternative, the government is also considering depleting the budget’s emergency pool to release at least RS30 billion immediately to start working on the mega complex, which will accommodate 1,000 beds with advanced medical facilities, according to government sources. They added that the Ministry of Finance had approached the IMF to approve a new municipal tax to raise money to build Jinnah Medical Complex and Research Center in Islamabad. The project imagines the construction of a tertiary care facility of 1,000 beds organized in several Supra-special medical centers for expertise (COEs). They also said that in response to Pakistan’s request, the IMF had asked for more details. An IMF mission also reaches Islamabad on September 25 to begin conversations about the release of the third -billion dollars of $ 1 billion subject to the end of the second review of the economy. The IMF team will remain in Islamabad until October 8th. However, the coalition government is pushing the project on a quick track to end it in July 2028, the sources added. They said the government has also begun to work on alternative possibilities, including obtaining supplementary grants from the budget or diverting funds from other projects. When he was contacted, Minister of Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said that the EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE FOR THE NIMION ECONOMIC COUNCIL (ECNEC) has made up a committee to resolve the financing limits facing the project by exploring alternative states to fund it. Iqbal said he would recommend funding the project outside the public sector development program (PSDP). The minister said the government has delivered the first seed money of approx. RS3.5 billion, which will be used to create Jinnah Medical Complex Complech and hire staff to oversee the project. The Minister of Planning is chairman of the committee, which will also supervise the physical progress of the project and ensure its end within the stipulated timeframe. Other members of the committee include secretaries of the ministries of national healthcare, planning and finance. The government faces competing demands from various ministries and state bodies, as the Federal Development Funding Pool has been significantly shrunk to only 0.8% of GDP from the top of 3% a few years ago. The sources said the government also considered spending $ 76 million or RS21.5 billion in expected proceeds from Panda bonds to finance Jinnah Medical Complex. However, the Ministry of Finance insisted that RS21.5 billion should be treated as part of the RS1 Billion PSDP for this financial year instead of being exploited as an additional source of financing. The Working Party for Central Development (CDWP) had considered the project, in which the Ministry of Health declared that further funding would be provided through Panda bonds, contributions to corporate social responsibility from government-owned companies and Islamabad Capital Territory Territory Municipal Taxes. The CDWP had ordered the Ministry of Health to determine a detailed financing mechanism for the project that incorporated the proposed financing needs through these sources. Without fixed obligations, however, the government made the project at the ECNEC meeting, but the question of mobilizing RS213 billion in three years remained unanswered, the sources said. The Ministry of Planning’s officials said that there were currently no specific obligations and only indicative amounts from these non-PSDP sources are assigned by the Ministry of Health to date. The Jinnah Medical Complex Complech has also sought funds to buy five vehicles for the project, but the Ministry of Planning called the demand unjustified for the development budget. According to the project documents, the complex will be a 15-story high-rise buildings near the new Islamabad International Airport. The project is planned to be completed in two stages. Phase I is proposed to be completed within 30 months from the release of funds, while Phase II is scheduled to be completed in two years. The government claims that Pakistan’s national average is five hospital beds per year. 10,000 people, compared to 16 in India and a range from 9 to 22 in other neighboring countries in the region. The construction of hospitals in the public sector has not kept pace with population growth, with few new facilities built since 1985.
Govt Seeking IMF NOD FOR NEW TAX
