Pakistan’s heavily indebted government, which is trying to secure a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on receiving aid, is to boost electricity rates by 2 percent starting from April in addition to taking other anticipated cash raising measures. President Zardari issued three ordinances on Tuesday to impose a 15 percent flood surcharge on income tax, raise federal excise duty from 1 percent to 2.5 percent and to impose a general sales tax of 17 percent on pesticides, tractors and fertilizers. According to reports, the tax measures were agreed between a visiting delegation from the IMF and the government.
