Pakistan 'expresses reservations' over IMF’s corruption report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has expressed ‘dissatisfaction’ with the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Corruption Diagnostic Assessment Report and is preparing to formally present its stance, ARY News reported on Tuesday, citing sources.

Officials told ARY News that Pakistan will submit a detailed response to the IMF report, highlighting reforms and steps taken to curb corruption and improve governance in the public sector.

The government maintains that governance indicators in Pakistan have improved, with key initiatives including the activation of the Financial Monitoring Unit to combat money laundering and corruption, as well as the introduction of faceless customs and transformation reforms in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to reduce malpractice.

Pakistan’s position further underlines that measures such as declaring the assets of politically exposed persons (PEPs) and enacting legislation requiring civil servants to disclose their assets have already been implemented.

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Officials argue that the IMF’s Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Mission should have assessed all these steps before drawing conclusions.

Pakistan insists that FBR’s tax reforms were carried out strictly in line with IMF targets, while a comprehensive transformation plan is underway to simplify the tax system.

The government also highlighted that supplementary grants cannot be approved without parliamentary consent, a measure taken to strengthen fiscal discipline.

Additionally, all tax exemptions have been abolished except those agreed with the IMF, Pakistan’s stance notes.