ISLAMABAD: The ninth review of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is still pending as the government has requested the financial agency to review the term of the lending programme. The federal government believes that Pakistan can complete the revenue targets without the imposition of new taxes. The foreign ministry is asked to probe into the matter for a successful deal between the government and IMF.
According to sources, Pakistan wants IMF to review the agreement terms because the country cannot take any harsh decisions due to recent floods, economic crises, and global inflation. However, the global lender had reservations about the reliability of figures regarding the effects of flood provided by the government. The meeting between IMF & Pakistan was supposed to take place in October but got rescheduled to November 3 and has been getting delayed since then.
The government has conveyed to the IMF that Pakistan would decrease the current account deficit by the end of 2022, and Federal Revenue Board has prepared the framework to recover the tax from evaders. Pakistan’s forex reserves are at a critically low position, and securing the IMF tranche will allow bilateral and multilateral funding.
