IMF Question Pakistan Over Claims of Meeting Targets Even Before Proper Review| Oneindia News

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The IMF team, led by Nathan Porter, expressed dismay at Pakistan's finance ministry for prematurely claiming fulfillment of structural benchmarks. Before completing their review, the team arrived to analyze economic data. The ministry's premature announcement left the IMF unable to provide feedback. Pakistan's finance minister assured such incidents wouldn't recur. Discussions continue for the release of the last $1.1 billion tranche, with speculation of a potential mini-budget to boost revenues.    #IMF #NathanPorter #PakistanEconomicCrisis #IMFPakistan #PakistanEconomy #IMFBailout #Worldnews #Pakistannews #Economynews #Oneindia #Oneindianews                  ~HT.178~PR.152~GR.123~

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00:00 IMF's team led by Mission Chief Nathan Porter recently conveyed their discontent to Pakistan

00:08 regarding their premature announcement made by the Pakistan's Finance Ministry.

00:13 The ministry's official statement claimed that all structural benchmarks and the targets

00:17 given by the IMF have been met before even IMF had commenced its review process.

00:23 The IMF team, including Porter and his colleagues, had arrived in Pakistan to initiate the review

00:28 process under the 3 billion standby arrangement SBA program.

00:31 However, before the IMF staff could even thoroughly scrutinize the relevant data and complete

00:36 their assessment, the Finance Ministry already proclaimed that the achievement of all benchmarks

00:42 and targets have been achieved.

00:44 This premature announcement raised eyebrows within the IMF team as they were in the early

00:48 stages of analyzing the official data from various sectors of Pakistan's national economy.

00:53 The announcement undermined the standard review procedure and left the IMF team unable to

00:57 provide their feedback and suggestions.

01:00 The reports from Pakistan's local media suggest that during the initial review talk, the IMF

01:05 team rigorously questioned and even grilled the Finance Ministry officials over the claim.

01:10 The Pakistani official appeared to be unprepared and clueless in responding to the queries

01:15 posed by the IMF representatives.

01:17 In response to the incident, Pakistan's newly appointed Finance Minister Mohammad Aurangzeb,

01:21 who previously also served as the CEO of Pakistan's largest bank, Habib Bank Ltd, assured that

01:27 the premature action will not occur in the future.

01:30 Currently, Pakistan and the IMF are engaged in discussions to finalize the second review

01:34 and reach an agreement over the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies, also known

01:39 as the MEFP agreement.

01:41 The crucial completion of this review is crucial for the release of the last tranche of the

01:45 $1.1 billion, which is expected before the Fund's Executive Board meeting in the second

01:51 week of April 2024.

01:53 Believe it or not, but for Pakistan, this money is quite important.

01:57 There are speculations regarding the possibility of a mini-budget, with officials suggesting

02:01 that the IMF might recommend raising the rates of various taxes, especially the General Sales

02:06 Tax (GST), to generate the additional revenues promptly.

02:10 This measure will be considered if the Federal Board of Revenue faces any shortfall in achieving

02:15 the tax collection target in Pakistan.

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