PM Shehbaz Sharif says revival of IMF programme critical to economy

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has linked the revival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme as critical to Pakistan’s economy, ARY News reported on Monday.

Taking to Twitter, the prime minister, while linking the revival of IMF programme critical to Pakistan’s economy, stressed upon breaking of economic straitjacket through structural reforms.

Revival of IMF program, though critical to our economy, is not an end in itself. It offers a pathway to reorient our economy. We will have to work hard to make it self-sufficient. Pakistan must break out of economic straitjacket, which is only possible through structural reforms.

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) August 30, 2022

PM Shehbaz Sharif said that the IMF programme offered a pathway to re-orient Pakistan’s economy and underlined that they would have to work hard to become self-sufficient.

“We will have to work hard to make it self-sufficient. Pakistan must break out of economic straitjacket, which is only possible through structural reforms,” PM Shehbaz added.

A day earlier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the seventh and eighth reviews of Pakistan’s Extended Fund Facility Programme (EFF).

The Fund in a press release announced that the executive board completed the combined seventh and eighth reviews of the “extended arrangement” under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Pakistan.

“The board’s decision allows for an immediate disbursement of SDR 894 million (about $1.1 billion), bringing total purchases for budget support under the arrangement to about US$3.9 billion,” the statement read.

The economic growth rate of Pakistan in this fiscal year is expected to be 3.5 per cent, unemployment in the country is likely to be 6 percent, and government expenditure during this fiscal year are estimated at 17.1 per cent of GDP.