Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the negotiations with the global lender ended “positively” but that the government would need to impose Rs170 billion in taxes through a mini-budget in order to restart the loan programme, hours after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a statement on its discussions with Pakistan.
Speaking to the media, the finance minister acknowledged that the text of the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) had been delivered to the government by the Washington-based lender.
The finance minister began his media appearance by pointing out that the policy the current administration was executing was the one that former prime minister Imran Khan had agreed to with the IMF for the years 2019–2020. He emphasised that the Shehbaz Sharif-led administration was in negotiations to strike a deal in its capacity as a “sovereign nation.”
He said, “This is an old arrangement that had been postponed and suspended earlier.
The finance minister continued by stating that the 10-day negotiations between Pakistan and the IMF team covered a wide range of topics, including the electricity and gas sectors as well as the fiscal and monetary aspects.
Ishaq Dar reported that representatives from various departments and ministries as well as the governor of the SBP took part in the discussions.
The finance minister shared the broad strokes of the agreement agreed with the IMF and stated that taxes measures totaling Rs170 billion, not the rumoured Rs700-800 billion, will be implemented.
