According to the Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar, everything has been mutually agreed upon in the last round of negotiations held with the IMF. There is no ambiguity about anything. A mini-budget will have to be brought to impose new taxes, amounting to 170 billion rupees.
Addressing the media, the finance minister confirmed that the government had received the draft of the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) from the global lender. Dar claimed the program was contracted by the PTI government, which had been delayed and suspended.
Furthermore, the finance minister announced that reforms will be implemented in the energy sector. The circular debt in the gas and power sector will also be stopped from increasing. The government is focusing on minimizing untargeted subsidies, Dar added. The finance minister said that some of the reforms suggested by the IMF are in Pakistan’s favor.
Earlier today, the IMF stated ending talks with Pakistani officials. IMF mission chief Nathan Porter said that considerable progress was made during the talks with Pakistani officials on policy measures to address domestic and external imbalances.