Responding to a tweet by journalist Amir Mateen about the recent 10% 'supertax' imposed on large-scale industries, Miftah Ismail clarified that he is not a Marxist, and instead just believes in markets, capitalism and social justice.
https://twitter.com/MiftahIsmail/status/1541040746089701377
Miftah asked "If we want our poor people to bear the brunt of rising global oil prices in the form of high petrol and diesel prices, and if we want our middle classes to bear 17% tax on consumption and high utility rates due to global rise in coal, LNG and oil prices (and previous government’s incompetence and irresponsibility) then shouldn’t our rich also pay?"
He further said that everybody agrees on the benefit of direct taxes, and wondered why there was so much contention on the imposition of a one-time supertax of 10% on industries that earn a minimum of 15 crore.
https://twitter.com/MiftahIsmail/status/1541040748535357440
The finance minister further stressed that after four years of 'budget deficits' during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, he does not intend to run another 'ruinous deficit'. He said that to curb the 'fiscally irresponsible' year, he decided to tax factories owned by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's sons, as well as his own businesses, calling it a 'shared sacrifice'.
https://twitter.com/MiftahIsmail/status/1541040763521290241
He concluded his Twitter thread by saying that governments need to do better in the limited resources available, and said that he will make sure he does his job of providing adequate resources to the government while ensuring the the international financial commitments are met.
https://twitter.com/MiftahIsmail/status/1541040768340484097