Pakistan could receive $2bn from IMF, says PM Shehbaz

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said that Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has informed him that Pakistan could receive $2 billion instead of $1 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“Miftah Ismail in a message said that we will hopefully be receiving $2 billion instead of $1 billion from the IMF,” the premier said and added that he told the minister that the “real goal” was achieving self-reliance.

“Our ultimate goal is to achieve self-reliance as it only guarantees to independently take political and economic decisions,” he said while addressing the ‘Turnaround Pakistan’ conference organised by the Ministry of Planning and Development.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed the resolve to take the country towards economic stability in the next fourteen months. He, however, stressed this would be achieved only with political stability.

He said: “We will have to rise above personal interests and take such long term decisions which change destiny of the country.”

The premier assured that loan amount will not be spent on current expenditures but will be used for economic development. He said a policy will be framed very soon which will encompass development schemes.

Regretting delay in completion of various projects as well as the failure of previous government to sign long term agreement for purchase of LNG, he said that the coalition government was importing coal from Afghanistan to address power outages issue.

“The transaction will be in Pakistani rupee, this will help country save two billion dollars,” Shehbaz added.

The PM said that an additional tax of Rs230 billion would be collected by the super tax imposed by the government. The tax would not be added to the current expenditure but would be spent on the development and economic progress of Pakistan.

Pakistan today received the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the seventh and eighth reviews, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail confirmed on his official Twitter handle.

Early this morning, the Government of Pakistan has received an MEFP from the IMF for combined 7th and 8th reviews.

— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) June 28, 2022

“Early this morning, the Government of Pakistan has received a MEFP from the IMF for combined 7th and 8th reviews,” he wrote.

The MEFP is a document which contains details regarding striking a staff-level agreement.