ISLAMABAD, OCT 31 (DNA) — Pakistan has completed all conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the next review talks under the $3 billion standby arrangement (SBA), scheduled to take place in November, sources within the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.
The IMF team is expected to arrive in Islamabad on November 2 for the talks before the release of the next loan installment of a loan to Pakistan. Sources said, Pakistan is likely to jack up levy on diesel from Rs55 to Rs60 per litre before the talks with the international lender, while the gas rates have already been raised on the IMF condition.
Pakistan is confident of the completion of the IMF review as conditions set for the first quarter of FY2023-24 have been met by Islamabad, the sources said. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collected tax of Rs2,041 billion from July-September in 2023-24 against the set target of Rs1,978 billion, the sources said, adding that no tax amnesty scheme was released by the country’s supreme tax collection body.
Furthermore, the sources said the government of Pakistan collected Rs222 billion on account of petroleum levy from July to September. The circular debts in the electricity and gas sector have been curtailed.
To meet the conditions of IMF, Pakistan has also jacked up the basic electricity tariff by Rs7.50/ unit, while an almost 200 per cent increase in gas tariff is also notified from November 1 The ceiling on net government budgetary borrowing from the SBP stood at Rs4,078 billion for the end of September 2023 as the Pakistan government’s borrowing from the central bank remained zero.
Meanwhile, talking to media men in Lahore on Tuesday, Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq has remarked that Pakistan will successfully conclude the upcoming review of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) scheduled next month. “We have achieved the targets and the revenue targets have been met. We are quite comfortable that our negotiations for the second tranche will conclude very successfully,” he added.
The prime minister said that there negotiations with the International Monetary Fund were going on smoothly and they were confident that further negotiations for the second tranche would be reached during IMF team visit to Pakistan in the month of November. — DNA
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