IMF delegation to reach Pakistan tonight for quarterly progress review
October 27, 2019
ISLAMABAD: A delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) — led by Mission Chief Ernesto Ramirez Rigo — is set to reach Pakistan late Sunday night to commence the first quarterly review of progress in the country's economy.
The delegation, set to stay in Pakistan from October 27 to November 7, will submit a report to the IMF mission, which, in turn, would decide whether to approve a tranche worth $460 million of the $6-billion three-year bailout package agreed upon back in July. Islamabad had earlier received $1 billion of the total amount.
Among the various conditions set by the global monetary body was also a review of Pakistan's efforts to remove itself from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) grey list, which the country will remain in till at least February 2020.
Also read: Pakistan to remain on FATF grey list till February 2020
Earlier this month, the intergovernmental organisation's president had said Pakistan made progress towards money-laundering and terror-financing.
While Pakistan failed to achieve its tax-collection target, the FATF commended the rise in the number of tax-payers. However, Islamabad remains hopeful that the IMF would be lenient in these regards.
Further, the IMF officials will also hold meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Finance, power sector, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), among other key institutions.
Read more: FATF expresses satisfaction on measures taken by Pakistan
The FBR team would apprise the IMF officials of the challenges it faced in collecting taxes to meet the tax goal and discuss with them improvements in the tax system as well as removing its shortfalls.
On the other hand, the finance ministry seems satisfied with the foreign exchange reserves, loan repayment programme, and improvements in the power sector.
The conditions pertaining to the current account deficit and the exchange rate have been met.
Also read: IMF approves three-year $6bn bailout package for Pakistan
Back in July, when the IMF had approved the $6-billion three-year bailout package, its spokesperson Gerry Rice had said the sum was "to support Pakistan’s economic plan, which aims to return sustainable growth to the country’s economy and improve the standards of living".
According to the conditions set by IMF, a delegation visits Islamabad every three months to review the country’s economic indicators. The Cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) previously approved a decision to jack up the natural gas prices, which was one of the IMF’s conditions for its bailout package.
The ECC had also approved a hike in the natural gas tariff for domestic consumers by 190 per cent and, on average, 31 per cent for all other categories.
Related:
