Govt Notifies IMF of Complying with All Prior Actions

The federal government has assured the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it is committed to the five main prior actions required to secure the loan programme. In the Letter of Intent (LoI) written to the IMF, the federal government noted that it has approved the budget for the Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) and initiated personal income tax (PIT) reform in line with the demands of the Fund. Further, the demand to sign the memoranda of understanding (MoUs) to meet fiscal targets has also been met with the signing between the federal and provincial governments during the month of July. The prior actions also include the main demand of the withdrawal of the February Relief Package announced by the previous government. Under the reversal of the package, general fuel subsidies of Rs. 5/Kwh have been eliminated and a petroleum development levy (PDL) of Rs. 10 per litre has been imposed on petrol while a levy of Rs. 5 per litre has been imposed on diesel on 1 July. To further assure the IMF, the government stuck to the policy and increased the PDL on petrol and diesel by Rs. 10 and Rs. 5, respectively on August 1 as well. The government has committed to increase the PDL by the same rate on September 1 and continue to increase the levy on a monthly basis for both fuels until it reaches Rs. 50 per litre. The arrangements to establish the debt management offices (DMOs) have also been made to fulfill all the prior actions.