ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has briefed the visiting IMF mission about government’s fiscal and economic reforms in various sectors, including energy, and measures to bridge the fiscal gap and stabilise the exchange rate.
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According to a press release issued by Finance Division, the briefing came during the meeting between a delegation of the international money lender led by IMF Mission Chief Nathan Porter with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and other officials at the Finance Division in Islamabad.
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The meeting was also attended by IMF Resident Representative Esther Perez Ruiz, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghous Pasha, SAPM on Finance Tariq Bajwa, SAPM on Revenue Tariq Mehmood Pasha, State Bank Governor Jamil Ahmad, finance secretary, FBR chairman and other government officials.
The current government wants country’s economic and fiscal policies and the reforms to complete the much-delayed ninth review of a $7 billion loan programme.
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Officials said Ishaq Dar informed the IMF mission that reforms were being introduced in the power sector and a “high-level committee has been formed for devising modalities to offset the menace of circular debt in the gas sector”.
Dar assured Fund officials that Pakistan would complete the ongoing programme. He extended all his support to the mission and committed to working together to reach an agreement to complete the ninth review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), according to the press release.
The Finance Division claimed that F Mission Chief Porter expressed confidence that the government would fulfil the requirements for completing the review and hoped that Pakistan would continue towards its progress on the reforms in various sectors and complete the IMF programme within time effectively.
Porter said IMF and Pakistan would be working together on fiscal reforms, the official press release added.
