IMF's attitude not friendly with Pakistan, says finance minister

While expressing his views on the budget in Finance Committee, Tarin said that Pakistan’s economy will grow at 6% during Financial Year (FY) 22-2023.

“The IMF wants all targets to be met immediately. The interest rate has been raised to 13.25 percent at the behest of global monetary fund. Debt servicing increased to Rs 3,000 billion due to hike in interest rates. The IMF demanded an increase in electricity and gas tariffs which resulted in hiking inflation in the country. Rising tariffs also slowed down the wheel of industry,” he said adding that IMF wants ongoing institutional reforms to be accelerated.

The Finance Minister further stated that the current account deficit has been in surplus for the last eight months.

“The IMF has been given an alternative plan for revenue targets. Despite being an agricultural country, Pakistan has become a country with food deficiency. In the year 2018, Pakistan’s economy showed unstable growth of 5.8%. The growth target for the current financial year was 2.1%,” he said adding that strong growth is needed for the next 25 to 30 years to stabilize economy.