IMF seeks cut in govt expenditures in fresh contact with Pakistan
\nDNA
\nISLAMABAD
\nThe deadlock persists between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund on the budget. According to sources, virtual negotiations were held between Pakistan and the IMF, but no major progress could be made between them.
\nPakistan urged the global lender to sign staff level agreement soon. The IMF, however, indicated to combine the 9th and 10th reviews. On the other hand, Pakistan first wanted to complete the 9th review only.
\nAccording to sources in the finance ministry, budget numbers were also discussed with the IMF. The Fund made a demand to increase the FBR revenue target up to Rs10,000 billion. The Pakistani delegation, however, suggested the FBR revenue target of Rs9,200 billion. The Federal Board of Revenue opposed the idea of increasing the revenue target on a large scale.
\nMinister of State for Finance Aisha Ghaus Pasha participated in the virtual talks along with the economic team. However, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar did not participate in the talks, sources informed.
\nAccording to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, Pakistan is pursuing efforts to secure the remaining $2 billion in external funding gap out of a $6 billion target to revive a long-delayed bailout program with the International Monetary Fund.
\nThe South Asian nation has lined up $4 billion in external financing and hopes to obtain a deal with the lender before it unveils its budget on Friday, the Ministry of Finance in Islamabad said Monday in an emailed response to questions from Bloomberg News. \u201cPakistan remains committed to completing the IMF programme and has already demonstrated its seriousness,\u201d the ministry said.
\nSaudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have committed to provide $3 billion to Pakistan in external financing. China and its state-owned banks have also rolled over $4 billion in loan commitments.
\nIn an email to Bloomberg, IMF\u2019s Resident Representative for Pakistan Esther Perez Ruiz said the programme would restart once the authorities follow the lender\u2019s programme goals, present adequate financing while presenting the budget, and there is \u201cproper market functioning\u201d of the Pakistani rupee.
\n\u201cIMF staff continues the engagement with the Pakistani authorities to pave the way for a Board meeting before the current programme expires,\u201d said the official.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
IMF seeks cut in govt expenditures in fresh contact with Pakistan DNA ISLAMABAD The deadlock persists between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund on the budget. According to sources, virtual negotiations were held between Pakistan and the IMF, but no major progress could be made between them. Pakistan urged the global lender to sign staff […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278571,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-335873","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n