IMF agreed to one-year extension: Miftah
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Federal Finance Minister Miftah has said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed to a one-year extension, 24NewsHD TV channel reported Sunday.
The final agreement will be signed in May, the finance minister told the media in Washington. Flanked by State Minister for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha, Miftah said: as soon as the mission comes to Pakistan, we will try to have an expedited staff-level agreement with them.
"After that agreement is signed, we will look forward to receiving another tranche," he averred. He continued: “We have to make difficult decisions. We will try to reduce the deficit as much as we can.
https://www.24newshd.tv/24-Apr-2022/7th-review-completed-pakistan-agrees-with-imf-to-end-fuel-subsidies
“The current government is bound to fulfill the commitments made by the last government under Imran Khan as these were made by the government not Imran Khan. “The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has been given autonomy.
About the IMF’s demand of curtailing the fuel subsidies, the finance minister emphasized that the government cannot afford it and it needs to be rolled back.
https://www.24newshd.tv/23-Apr-2022/miftah-ismail-calls-on-imf-officials-discusses-seventh-review
The finance minister ruled out the chances of bankruptcy, saying: “The government of Pakistan has not defaulted in its 70-year history and it will not default in the future. The debt to GDP ratio “should be low every year."
As far as his government’s targets were concerned, Miftah said that the Shehbaz Sharif-led government’s target would be ensuring that the state reserves be higher than what they inherited.
The finance minister said the seventh review was stopped during Imran Khan’s government and the Shehbaz Sharif-led government had reinstated it. He said he made a request to the IMF for increasing the fund by more than $6 billion.