Government committed to IMF programme, ready to remove objections raised on budget

Islamabad: Pakistan knelt before the IMF and the budget was ready to remove its objections.

A surprising statement has been issued by the Federal Ministry of Finance, in which it has been said that Pakistan is committed to the IMF program, the coalition government has already taken many difficult decisions at political cost, to resolve the matter amicably. We are in continuous contact with the IMF.

The Finance Ministry’s new statement is a departure from Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s statement yesterday in which he had said that we will not accept the IMF’s directive on tax exemption.

Sources told The Express Tribune that the prime minister called a meeting on Friday morning and directed the finance ministry to try to clear the IMF’s objections regarding the budget.

Also read: Prime Minister has turned upside down to meet IMF conditions

It is learned that after the meeting, the government decided to reassess the ninth review, which is likely to receive a $1.2 billion tranche, according to statements made by Pakistan officials and the IMF a day earlier. It was Pakistan. The IMF program has come to an end, with the finance minister meeting with the IMF mission chief earlier this week which ended inconclusively.

A senior finance ministry official said on condition of anonymity that it is in our interest to complete the ninth review and get the $1.2 billion tranche. Agreed, remember that the Prime Minister intervened several times to save the IMF program.

Yesterday he spoke to the MD of the IMF on telephone and requested him to complete the ninth review. Tried, but no agreement could be reached between the Prime Minister and MDIMF on the new budget.

Also read: Ready to work with government to improve budget, IMF

IMF Resident Representative Eshter Perez Ruiz said that Pakistan missed an opportunity to increase the tax base in the budget while the new tax amnesty scheme is contrary to the terms of the IMF program and a harmful precedent.

PML-N MNA Ali Parvez has said that we should complete the ninth review because without IMF we cannot solve our problems, he also suggested amendments in the budget to satisfy the IMF.

Meanwhile, according to the statement issued by the Ministry of Finance here on Friday, the Ministry of Finance has reviewed the statement of the Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund in Pakistan. Certain issues have been raised in the press, so we think it would be appropriate to explain our position on these issues.

read more: IMF objections; We should be allowed something of our own accord, Finance Minister

Before elaborating on specific issues in the press release, it is important to look at the context and lessons of the discussions. The 9th review with the IMF took place in February 2023. was related to and we think that this issue was resolved in a good manner in the telephonic conversation between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Managing Director of the IMF on May 27, although the federal budget for the new financial year was never 9th review. No part.

However, according to the commitment of the Prime Minister to the Managing Director of the IMF, the Ministry of Finance also shared the budget data with the IMF mission, while we were in constant contact with the IMF mission during the budget period as well.

According to the statement of the Ministry of Finance, the sectors for which tax exemptions have been given in the budget are the real sectors of the economy, they are the engines of JUNMO, it is a sustainable way to provide employment to the citizens, the size of this exemption is very small.

Initiatives for the economically weaker sections of the society are not limited to those who benefit from BISP, the size of this budget has been increased from 400 billion to 450 billion. The coalition government has already taken several difficult decisions at political cost, we are in constant touch with the IMF to resolve the issue amicably.