Islamabad, Senator Sherry Rehman, Vice President of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), has spoken out on Friday regarding the concerns about the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) perceived involvement in Pakistan’s financial affairs, specifically in the allocation of the nation’s resources. She highlighted the absence of any direct indication that the IMF intends to intervene in Pakistan’s constitutional framework for resource allocation.

According to Pakistan Peoples Party, Senator Rehman has questioned the rationale behind the assumption that the IMF would seek to alter the National Finance Commission (NFC) formula of Pakistan. She suggested that the central government’s focus should instead be on enhancing its tax collection capabilities through the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), rather than infringing upon provincial revenues. Senator Rehman emphasized that since the 7th NFC Award, the FBR’s tax collection has stagnated, while provincial tax contributions to the GDP have noticeably increased.

Furthermore, Rehman underscored that, in addition to broadening the tax base, provinces have been contributing significant surpluses to the federal government for the past two years, demonstrating their fiscal responsibility. She also pointed out that the federal government has been collecting all taxes on petroleum products through a petroleum levy, which does not follow the standard mechanism of shared revenues that would be in place if these were collected through the General Sales Tax (GST).

The PPP leader’s remarks reflect a broader concern regarding the autonomy and efficacy of Pakistan’s federal financial structure and the need for improved domestic revenue generation without excessive external intervention.