Government decides to approach IMF for 'economic recovery program'
- By Web Desk -
- Oct 08, 2018
ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Monday announced to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for an “economic recovery program”, ARY News reported.
Acccording to a statement released by Ministry of Finance, the government, after taking into account the current situation and consultation with the leading economists, decided to approach the IMF for stabilisation and an “economic recovery program”.
The statement explains that immediately upon assuming office, the present government had expressed serious concerns on the dire economic situation of the country and had committed to undertake a quick evaluation of all possible options.
“The government inherited 6.6% of fiscal deficit, more than a trillion rupees of unaccounted for losses in the energy sector and an unprecedented and debilitating current account deficit running at $2 billion a month. To correct the underlying imbalances, fiscal and monetary actions needed to be undertaken without delay,” reads the statement.
The government maintained that Pakistan has availed ten IMF programs since 1990s in one shape or the other but the challenge for the current government is to ensure that fundamental economic structural reforms are carried out to ensure that “this spiral of demanding in an IMF program every few years is broken once and for all”.
“It is essential to remember that there is a history of Pakistan repeatedly going to the IMF with every new government being forced to go with IMF program due to legacy of those who held power in the previous government,” the ministry noted.
In order to avail the program, Finance Minister Asad Umar will hold meetings with the top leadership of IMF during the annual meetings of World Bank / IMF in Indonesia’s Bali city later this week.