Finance adviser, provincial ministers hold talks with IMF mission

ISLAMABAD: The Prime Minister's Adviser on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh along with the Sindh chief minister and finance ministers of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, held a joint meeting with the IMF mission led by Ernesto Ramirez Rigo here on Saturday.

The IMF delegation, which arrived in Islamabad earlier this week, is finalising talks on a bailout package and is expected to conclude the technical details of the proposed loan by Monday. The proposed bailout package is expected to range between $7 billion and $8bn.

In the meeting today, the participants exchanged views on the county's existing fiscal situation in the context of IMF programme, which is currently under discussions, the finance ministry said in a press release.

The IMF Mission was apprised that the federal and provincial governments were constantly engaged on fiscal matters and the National Finance Commission (NFC) and the Fiscal Coordination Committee (FCC) forums were being used for ensuring maximum cooperation and coordination among the federal and provincial fiscal authorities.

According to the finance ministry, the provincial finance ministers apprised the IMF team of various initiatives taken in their respective provinces for resource mobilisation at the sub-national level to cater for the increasing developmental and social spending needs.

They expressed that the revenues from taxation had witnessed marked improvement recently. They also emphasised that they were managing their expenditures prudently for better fiscal outcomes.

According to the press release, they assured the IMF team that the provincial governments would support and complement the efforts of the federal government to adhere to the fiscal framework being discussed with the Fund.

The IMF Mission was encouraged by the shared thinking at the federal and provincial levels, while the IMF leader appreciated the updates provided by the provincial governments. He highlighted the importance of a harmonised system of taxation that would contribute towards increasing economic activities and business growth in the country.

Senior officials of the Finance Division as well as provincial finance departments also attended the meeting.

Govt to announce key SBP, FBR appointments

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said the government would announce appointments to the key posts of FBR chairman and SBP governor later today.

"We are bringing people who have shown good performance," said the finance adviser when asked about the appointments in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

Sheikh said provincial finance ministers gave their recommendations in the meeting with the IMF mission today.

Economic statistics were presented to the IMF team while the topic of increasing the government's tax revenue was also discussed in the meeting, he said.

Speaking to the media earlier, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said: "The IMF team met separately with the finance adviser. The finance adviser admitted there has been a pressure on the provinces because of the low tax collection."

"The provincial governments have informed IMF that we [provinces] have a better tax collection record," Shah said, adding that Sindh has a higher tax collection rate.

He added that the federal government has to work on its tax collecting method.

"We have to work on the shortcomings of our economy only then we will be able to make things better," he said.