Minister of State for Finance Ayesha Ghous Pasha has said that the biggest challenge the government is facing in the forthcoming budget is how to bring down the inflation, reported 24NewsHd TV channel.

In a statement issued in Islamabad on Friday, the state minister maintained that it would many more months to arrest the fall in the economy. “The next budget would not be tax free because the deficit will go out of control if we did not increase our income through taxes,” she added.

Ayesha Pasha said Pakistan is still in the IMF loan programme. “We have to tread this path as a nation and hope for the completion of the ninth IMF review,” she added.

The minister said there was a strong possibility of a positive outcome of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s phone talk with the IMF managing director.

She said there would be improvement in the economic situation after the staff-level agreement with the IMF.