IMF review mission to visit Pakistan tomorrow

Islamabad: The review mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will visit Pakistan from tomorrow and the delegation will stay in Pakistan for two weeks.

According to media reports, the IMF delegation will hold talks with the Ministry of Finance, Energy and other regulatory bodies and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

It has been reported that IMF delegation will hold talks with Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) and provincial governments. Pakistani officials are hopeful for successful talks.

About 90 billion rupees have been disbursed under Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) in the first quarter, Pakistan has to clarify its position on the issue of external financing.

The IMF has expressed concerns on the issue of external financing, while there are also differences on the issue of currency exchange. IMF has also demanded the withdrawal of the December 2022 circular to control imports, reportedly.

To reduce the revolving debt of the energy sector, Pakistan has increased the price of electricity and gas, the foreign exchange reserves and the current account deficit of Pakistan are also in accordance with the demand of IMF.

According to reports, the government's debt to SBP is around Rs41 billion, which is in line with the prescribed limit, while the FBR has collected Rs66 billion more than the target set for revenue collections till October.