IMF and Pakistan make progress to staff level agreement, says mission chief

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Islamabad: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistani officials made significant progress on reaching the staff level agreement on the first review of the $ 7 billion ongoing program.

The mission and Pakistani authorities will continue to discuss policy debates through a video conference to finalize these debates in the coming days, the statement said.

“The IMF and Pakistani authorities made significant progress to reach the staff level agreement (SLA) under the Extension Fund Facility (EFF) for 37 months.”

The lender -led team, led by Porter, was to discuss the first review of Pakistan’s economic program from February 24 to March 14, which was supported by the EFF and the possibility of a new arrangement under the lender’s flexibility and stability (RSF).

The country’s latest debt program, which was received by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif last year, has played a key role in strengthening Pakistan’s economy and the government has said that the country is ahead for long -term rehabilitation.

If the IMF approves the first debt review, the country is in line to receive about $ 1 billion as the second installment of the loan package.

Highlighting Pakistan’s “strong” implementation on the bailout package, Porter said the debates between the two sides made considerable progress in many fields.

Planning to reduce public debt in these areas is planned to maintain financial stability, restoration of severe monetary policy to maintain low inflation, accelerate the improvement of the energy sector to improve the capacity of the energy sector, and to strengthen social safety and to strengthen the cost of health and education.

The IMF official also noted progress in Islamabad’s climate reform agenda debates, which aims to reduce the risks of natural disaster risks as well as reforms that can help help under the RSF.

The Mission Chief’s statement refers to Pakistan’s official request, which was made in October 2024 under the flexible and stability trust (RST) for about $ 1 billion.

In addition, Porter said that the two sides “will continue to practically discuss these debates in the coming days to finalize these debates”.

In an interview to Geo News, extending the mission of the IMF review, Finance Minister Mohammad Aurangzeb said that Pakistan had effectively implemented the loan program.

Confirming significant progress in the IMF talks, he added that consultation with the lender will continue to achieve fruitful results next week.

Government expects to get $ 2.2BN

B 7bn Loan is looking at the expected release of $ 2.2bn under the EFF, with the end of the first review of the Loan program.

The government is expected to receive B 1BN under $ 7bn EFF, which is expected to approve a $ 1.2bn from $ 1 billion by promoting RSF by the IMF executive board – which will raise the total distribution from about $ 2 billion to 2.2bn.

The two -week negotiations between Pakistan and the IMF have resulted in a broader agreement on a revised framework for economic and financial adjustments for the current fiscal year. Key economic estimates, including GDP growth, CPI -based inflation, and current account deficit, were revised.

As a result of these adjustments, the size of Pakistan’s economy for the current financial year was amended below 123 trillion. The original GDP projection was also revised down, while the average CPI -based inflation was adjusted from 12.5 % to 7 % for the current financial year.

It should be noted that under the RSF, the Government of Pakistan has agreed to share a number of projects to ensure flexible measures in the climate. In the coming years, a dedicated fund will be set up to finance and implement these projects in the coming years, with the goals of the IMF’s climate finance.

Tajir Dost Scheme

Meanwhile, joint data joint data from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) data joint data joint data joint data joint data joint data joint data, after the IMF agreed to terminate the Tajer Dost Scheme (TDS).

Following a wider deal with the IMF to abandon TDS, the FBR has introduced video analysis rules for electronic monitoring of the production process.

The move aims to accurately evaluate the level of real production and bring more goods to the tax net. Although the IMF mission has concluded its review talks, no decision has been made on the FBR’s request to reduce tax rates in the real estate sector.

A top government official has confirmed the publication that the IMF was convinced to leave the TDS after being presented with data, which states that the FBR has deposited more than 400bn from retailers, wholesaler and AOPs trading activities.

With the possibility of further tax revenue recovery from the remaining four months (March to June 2025), the IMF agreed to abandon the TDS, which proved to be ineffective from the beginning.

“We have agreed with the IMF that during the current financial year 2024-25, the tax will be achieved by 10.6 percent of the GDP, which will end on June 30, 2025,” a senior official said. He added that the overall economy’s overall growth and size has shrunk compared to the previous estimates, allowing the FBR to meet the desired target of 10.6 % of GDP.

It is estimated that the FBR tax collection target has been amended from Rs 12,970bn to 12,350bn for the current fiscal year.