The delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrived in Pakistan for 11 days
Islamabad … News time
A delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrived in Pakistan for 11 days in July last year to assess the performance of the $ 6 billion under bailout package. It will be estimated whether the government should pay $ 45 million in March to increase market confidence and foreign exchange reserves. Pakistan has received $ 1.1 billion since July, of which $ 99 million was received in July and 45 million in the month of December. Out of total $ 6 billion, Pakistan will receive $ 1.25 billion by 2023, while $ 4 billion 35 million will have to be returned to the IMF in that period. The review is taking place at a time when the government is facing a revenue shortfall of Rs 385 billion out of Rs 2.79 trillion in the first seven months of this fiscal.
Under the federal budget 20-2019, the government had set an annual tax collection target of Rs 55 trillion for the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). The annual target was set at 43% growth in revenue while in fact the revenue target was 16.8% in the first 7 months of the fiscal year, which was claimed by the government over 14% inflation and 3% economic growth.
The delegation of the IMF will hold meetings with cabinet members including Abdul Hafiz Sheikh, Hamad Azhar, Omar Ayub Khan, Asad Omar and Mohammad Mian Soomro, as well as high officials of the State Bank of Pakistan and economic ministries during the stay in Pakistan next week. The meetings will focus on challenges and performance in terms of debt reduction, revenue consolidation, privatization programs and other structural reforms. The most important challenge for the government at this time is to accelerate the process of collecting revenue in the economy through additional measures as FBR officials have already opposed the imposition of additional taxes. It is expected that the two sides will discuss how to ensure financial stability without slowing growth; he is expected to discuss next year’s budget proposals, scheduled for June 2020.
