ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation, led by its chief for Pakistan Nathan Porter, met with Finance Minister Mohammad Aurangzeb in Islamabad on Tuesday to review the performance of Pakistan’s $7 billion loan programme.
According to a statement released by the Finance Division, the global lender team visited the finance ministry, where the delegation was welcomed by Aurangzeb.
The IMF mission will stay in Pakistan until November 15 to assess the progress made on the programme so far and evaluate the country’s fiscal situation. However, this visit is not part of the first review, which is set to take place in the first quarter of 2025. Both the IMF and the Finance Ministry have not released specific details regarding the visit.
The $7 billion EFF program, which is structured in six biannual reviews, requires Pakistan to meet certain performance criteria in exchange for disbursements.
The first formal review, based on performance through December 2024, is critical for Pakistan to secure a $1 billion disbursement by March 2025.
According to Dawn, in the meeting, Pakistan informed the IMF delegation about a Rs 190 billion revenue shortfall over the first four months of the fiscal year, with nearly half of that shortfall occurring in October. This has raised concerns among IMF officials about the growing revenue gap amid declining inflation rates.
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The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) assured the IMF that enforcement and administrative measures were being implemented to address the shortfall, Dawn reported while citing sources. They also noted that initial results from these efforts would be visible by the end of November. Despite the challenges, the FBR maintained that the shortfall was still within the 1% quarterly target.
As the discussions continue, Pakistan will focus on addressing key benchmarks related to federal revenues, state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the external financing gap, and provincial fiscal policies to ensure compliance with the IMF program and avoid any setbacks ahead of the first formal review.
