Pakistan, IMF share same goals: SBP governor

WASHINGTON: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Reza Baqir says talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the sixth review of the $6 billion loan programme are going smoothly.

Speaking to the Pakistani media in Washington on Thursday, he said Pakistan and the Fund shared the same goals, which include bringing non-taxpayers to the tax net.

“We too want to expand our tax net and improve the tax-to-GDP ratio,” the SBP governor said, adding that Pakistan and the IMF also shared the same goals in other sectors too, like energy and circular debt.

Dwelling on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) action plan, he said Pakistan had been taking measures to come out of the Paris-based money laundering watchdog’s grey list.

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About the SBP Amendment Bill 2021, Reza Baqir said it was not the first time that the bill was introduced as it was previously done five times. The bill was a first step towards the central bank’s autonomy, he added.

Talking about the Roshan Digital Account, he said Pakistani expats were benefiting from the initiative. As many as 180,000 Pakistanis have benefited from the RDA since it was launched.

Around 800 to 1,000 Roshan Digital Accounts were opening on a daily basis, he pointed out.