The economic team of the government of Pakistan, during policy-level talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has shared with it the macro-economic framework.
Quoting its sources, a private television channel reported Tuesday that differences persisted between the two sides over setting the basic economic targets.
While the IMF, they said, had estimated that the GDP growth rate would not be more than 3.5 per cent in the next financial year (FY), the finance ministry, on the other hand, had predicted 3.7 per cent growth rate.
Similarly, contrary to the government’s estimate that the rate of inflation in the country would stand at 11.8 per cent, the Fund had estimated that it would be 12.7 per cent.
They informed that a suggestion had been made during the talks that the development target in the agriculture sector would be 3.5 per cent, while 3.8 per cent in the services sector and four per cent in the industrial sector. Sources explained that an amount of over $9700 billion was expected to be spent on the payment of interest on loans. Similarly, they elaborated, the Fund had estimated that the current
account deficit would stand at $4.6 billion, while the government, on the contrary, had estimated that it would be $4.2 billion.
