ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) requested Islamabad to increase its foreign exchange reserves to $16.20 billion by June 30 during their policy discussions. The IMF demanded that import restrictions should be lifted immediately.
The finance minister has to take some tough decisions to fix the economy in accordance with IMF guidelines.
IMF demand to remove import restrictions
The IMF demanded that import restrictions should be lifted immediately, which will require $4 billion in letters of credit (LCs).
According To Representatives Of The Finance Ministry, a decrease in the expenditure of more than Rs600 Billion is being examined in order to overcome the trust gap.
revision of Expenses
Energy and gas costs will rise due to the drop in subsidies, according to officials.
Furthermore, all construction projects would gradually be made public on the website for monitoring.
The Pakistani team told the IMF mission that legislation will be enacted. The legislation will be prepared in order to make the accountability process more open.
A new borrowing and repayment regime for foreign loans is yet to be determined. The development of infrastructure for the repayment of circular debt will also be the subject of discussions. A new system for obtaining and repaying rupee loans from banks will be implemented as well.
Guidelines for foreign loans
According to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), taxes totaling Rs3,965 billion were collected in the seven months between July 2022 and January 2023.
The IMF team received assurances from representatives of the federal tax authority that the fiscal year’s tax target of Rs7,470 billion would be met.
Read more: Pak-IMF Policy-Level Talks
