Motor vehicle industry expert Suneel Sarfaraz Munj has rejected rumors that car prices will go down in the next federal budget of FY2025-26.
In an interview on ARY News’, Suneel Sarfaraz Munj said that these hopes emerge every year before the budget but seldom come true.
He cautioned that the suggested raising of a carbon tax and raising the petroleum levy would overburden the common citizen. “These actions will haunt the average consumer,” he stated.
Referring to potential regulatory duty cuts, Munj observed that any such step would mostly favor the buyers of luxury cars and wouldn’t affect the price of locally built automobiles.
The ordinary Pakistani will feel no relief unless the government reduces taxes on locally manufactured vehicles,” he insisted.
Munj also warned against relaxing import restrictions, claiming that it is not the time to ease the ban on imported cars. Rather, he proposed that the government reduce the tax on domestic production in an effort to boost the local auto sector.
Earlier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) called for the phased removal of federal funding for provincial development initiatives under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
Sources say IMF made this request during online talks with provincial governments on expenditure plans for the 2025-26 fiscal budget with provinces fully engaged in the sessions.
The IMF suggested provinces break their federal funding reliance by raising resources independently, such as imposing an income tax on farm income over Rs600,000 per year from July 1, 2025, without exemptions.
