ISLAMABAD: Ishaq Dar, Finance Minister has claimed that all formalities for the ninth review for pending tranche of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been completed however the issue of external funding is left.
Addressing a ceremony at Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in Islamabad on Tuesday, he reminisced about the performance of the PML-N government during its last tenure when Pakistan was emerging as an economic giant.
Dar noted that forecasts of Pakistan defaulting were prevalent in 2013 but as time unfolded, the country defied the odds and rapidly emerged as the 24th largest economy in the world within just three years.
The minister observed that although Pakistan’s progress was promising, there appeared to be a consistent pattern of unfortunate events happening alongside the nation’s development.
He hinted that these events might not be mere coincidences but could involve some intentional planning or actions by certain individuals or groups.
The minister said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government signed an agreement with the IMF in 2019-20 but backed off, which brought defamation to the state.
He said that the incumbent government took decisions without caring about its political capital.
Dar said that the IMF team arrived in Pakistan three months late for the ninth review, following which it was completed technically.
He said that the tax proposal, however, put forward by the global lender was Rs800 billion but the government negotiated it to get it reduced to Rs170 billion.
The minister said that the government fulfilled the ‘commitments’ of the state.
“Timely external payments were our top priority,” he stated while highlighting the government’s focus on meeting global financial obligations.
Only the issue of the gap in external funding is left, he added, and compared the situation after Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in 1998. However, Dar said that they had managed it then despite all challenges.
He also admitted that the economic growth is extremely slow.
Dar assured that efforts would be made to minimise the burden on the masses and business community in the upcoming budget.
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