ISLAMABAD – Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin is confident that Pakistan will successfully pass a seventh review of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) $6bn Extended Fund Facility (EFF) despite a subsidy package worth Rs300 billion announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Last month, the premier announced to slash petroleum prices by Rs10 per liter and the power tariff by Rs5 per unit, adding that the electricity and petrol prices would not be increased till next budget.
Later, Muzzamil Aslam, a spokesman for Pakistan’s finance and energy ministries, revealed: “This is a Rs250-Rs300 billion relief package and will be met through cutting different expenditures”. announcement.
PM Imran’s Rs300 billion relief package: Where will the money come from?
Shaukat Tarin while talking to The News said that the global lender had expressed concerns over the relief package and tax amnesty scheme for industrial sectors but Pakistani officials explained them all aspects of the subsidy in detail.
He said that the IMF team will share its final assessment about Pakistan tomorrow (Friday) for holding virtual talks for the next tranche of loan.
Tarin claimed that the seventh review was “almost done” and the IMF team had not raised objections over the macroeconomic data up until December 2021.
IMF objects to PM Imran’s tax amnesty scheme, relief package
