Talks Between IMF And Pakistan Likely By Month-End

The 9th review meeting between Pakistan and International Monetary Fund (IMF) is likely to be held in the last week of November. A senior official of the Ministry of Finance told ProPakistani that the process of data sharing between Pakistan and the IMF is ongoing and formal dialogue under the 9th review will be started once the process is completed. The official said that Pakistan has demanded waivers from IMF due to the flood devastations. Pakistan has shared the latest figures of damages due to floods and told the global lender that the economy has suffered a loss of $30 billion, the official said. The Pakistani authorities want relaxation in the budget deficit for the current fiscal year from IMF as the government wants to start the rehabilitation phase in the flood-affected areas. The official said that the 9th review was scheduled for the first week of November but it was rescheduled due to the prevailing political and security situation in the country. While responding to a question, the official said IMF has urged Pakistani authorities to increase tax to GDP ratio which has decreased to 9 percent. However, despite this demand, the government is not willing to introduce additional tax measures, the official confirmed. He said that in absolute terms, the government is on track to achieve the revenue target, however, it is lagging behind in terms of tax to GDP ratio.