ISLAMABAD: International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde has said that Pakistan still faces economic challenges despite improvements in the sector.
Lagarde, in a meeting with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar congratulated Pakistan on successfully completing the IMF bailout. She also said that that the country’s economy has improved but it still faces economic challenges.
She lauded the efforts for setting in place a strong macroeconomic framework and said that this foundation possesses the drivers for sustained growth.
She acknowledged that in these times of slow global growth, the government’s ambitious development plan has provided the country with an opportune moment to emerge as a middle income country with a resilient economy and sustained growth.
MD IMF said that Pakistan had undertaken deep rooted structural reforms during the three-year Extended Fund Facility of the IMF, including reduction in budget deficit, reform of the power sector, broadening of tax base and improvement in revenue collection.
The IMF chief recommended that Pakistan should introduce further structural reforms.
Christine Lagarde, who is in the capital on her first official visit, said Pakistan was ‘out of an economic crisis’ during a meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. She said Pakistan’s fiscal deficit has reduced and inflation declined in the recent years.
 chief Christine Lagarde has said that Pakistan still faces economic challenges despite improvements in the sector.){kind=link}