The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistan have officially started talking about the first review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) worth $7 billion that was agreed upon last year.
The Ministry of Finance says that Nathan Porter led an IMF team that met with Muhammad Aurangzeb, who is the finance minister, in Islamabad. The meeting was mostly about the country’s economy as a whole.
During the meeting, Pakistan promised the global lender that it would stick to its budget and make changes to the economy. Talks are still going on in Islamabad for the latest economic review.
The country’s finance minister, Muhammad Aurangzeb, told the IMF group about the country’s macroeconomic situation, how much money the government was collecting, and how structural reforms were going. He said again that Pakistan is still determined to meet the terms of its $7 billion loan program.
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Pakistan’s economic success in the first half of this fiscal year was talked about. Data on the fiscal deficit, primary balance, revenue collection, and provincial surpluses were shown by officials. The IMF team also looked at Pakistan’s planned budgetary changes and the money that was spent on the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP).
The talks included people from the finance minister, the planning commission, and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), who talked about how the government collects taxes and spends money.
The IMF delegation was also told about Pakistan’s Green Initiative, which focused on fiscal strategies linked to climate change.
Senior IMF officials, such as Nathan Porter, who is in charge of the review mission, were at the meeting.
The Pakistani government told the group that structural changes are being made to the energy sector and taxes to keep the economy stable.
According to sources, the IMF will likely give its suggestions for Pakistan’s next federal budget.
The finance minister has already turned in a compliance report that shows how well the loan terms have been met, including steps to lower the budget deficit and get more money from outside sources.
Before ending the review process, the IMF team will keep talking with other ministries and banking institutions.
Pakistan’s agreement with the IMF is still very important as it looks for more loan payments under the program to keep investor trust high and foreign exchange reserves stable.
Before, the IMF asked for an attack on tax evasion in Pakistan’s real estate market. Now, talks are starting in Islamabad to release a $1 billion loan tranche.
This demand is part of the talks that are still going on to get the next part of the $7 billion loan package.
As part of the plan, people who report false property prices will be punished by the government with jail time and fines.
If an agent doesn’t register a property, they could be fined up to Rs 500,000. If they give false information, they could be fined between Rs 200,000 and Rs 500,000.
The Real Estate Regulatory Authority will be able to give up to three-year jail terms.
The talks about the loan tranche will go on until March 15, 2025. They will be split into two stages: first, there will be technical talks, and then there will be policy-level talks.
