Pakistan gets IMF’s nod to increase BISP stipend

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has increased monthly stipend of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) after approval from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), ARY News reported.

A five-day negotiations between Pakistani officials and the IMF delegation have been concluded, in which it was decided that no cuts will be made in the budget.

The IMF also gave a nod to increase the monthly stipend of BISP, a cash transfer programme for Pakistan’s deserving households, from Rs10,000 to Rs13,500.

Sources said that the IMF delegation held different meetings with Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, representatives of provincial governments, and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials on Friday.

The sources added that Pakistani officials successfully convinced the IMF delegation over the provincial surplus budget, but the Fund’s officials partially agreed on the government position about agricultural tax.

“The IMF officials also grilled representatives of provincial governments, asking some of the toughest questions,” they said and added that it has been agreed that all the other provinces will follow Punjab and impose a Super Tax on agricultural revenue.

The Sindh government has been asked to make a legislation as soon as possible, while the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa informed the IMF delegation that it has completed homework in this regard.

According to sources, the IMF urged to start tax collection on agricultural income from January. Consultants will be hired to make sure compliance on Provincial Financial Agreements.

The government also assured IMF about external financing arrangement from foreign governments and lenders. Pakistani officials said that they not only met the Fund’s target of provincial cash surplus but also exceeded it.

Officials shared revised figures of provincial budget surplus with IMF which shows Rs360 billion provincial cash surplus in first quarter of 2024-25, while the actual target was Rs342 billion, fulfilling one of the major fiscal condition of the Fund.

Ministry of Finance claimed that overall provincial surplus was Rs18bn more than the target. The Punjab government’s surplus remained Rs40bn while from July to September as Rs160bn deficit had been showed in an earlier report.