Pakistan to fulfil tax collection agreement with IMF: Shamshad Akhtar

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar said Friday that the government will fulfil its tax collection agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), ARY News reported.

While addressing a press conference along with caretaker federal ministers, Shamshad Akhtar said that the caretaker setup had inherited several challenges however it was not frightened by them and tried to deal with them one by one.

She added that the government’s strategy was to prudently manage the challenges, make efforts to control expenditures and enhance revenues, which would help improve the situation.

“The country’s economy was showing signs of recovery owing to efforts made by the caretaker government. The macroeconomic indicators, if you view them, you can find some betterment. There are some signs of economic recovery. Even if it is just starting.”

While deliberating upon the indicators showing positive development, the finance minister said the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has shortly declined from over 38 per cent in May to 27.2 per cent now, adding this was an important indicator to show betterment.

She said the country had come out of some difficulties and the situation would improve further when ‘we go forward.’

Akhtar said the productive sectors witnessed betterment, including agriculture, which is expected to yield good output in both minor and major crops that would have a positive impact on the economic growth prospects of the country.

She said the industrial sector was also showing improvement, citing growth in the cement industry adding that as soon as the activity picks up gradually the industry would also grow.

Talking about the services sector, the minister said it is a very vibrant sector and has been linked with every sector.

In addition, she said, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had kept interest rate stagnant which would also help improve the situation by reducing the cost of borrowing by industry and help its revival.

She said the government had also talked to donors, expressing the hope that in addition to the normal flows from them, funding in some areas would be fast-tracked.

She said the government was expecting around $2 billion in assistance on a fast-track basis.The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is expected to keep its funding under Revitalizing Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) on fast track, the minister added.

She said the government was focusing on reforms in those sectors which are beneficial for people and help build the confidence of investors to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

She said the government was working on different initiatives to improve the FDI and ensure self-sustaining growth.

For remittance, she said, Rs80 billion has been allocated for initiatives to improve remittances through formal channels, adding that Rs20 billion out of this amount has been released to banks for this purpose.

She said the foreign exchange reserves position is also stable adding that Exchange Companies Reform and anti-smuggling operations stabilized the rupee. “This stability came without any bank intervention.”

The minister said the export-import bank was also being operationalized. She said there were many other initiatives that showed the government was making efforts to bring about positive change.