Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb acknowledged that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program had encountered some setbacks, but he insisted that the government was still committed to finishing the $7 billion scheme.
In a briefing to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, the finance minister made the comment in response to the opposition’s demand that, as part of the IMF requirement, the military and judiciary’s assets be disclosed as well, as they are now only available to civil officials.
The ministry also informed the committee that it had not complied with an IMF debt maturity requirement, adding to the list of departments that have not yet complied with certain IMF requirements.
The IMF officials unexpectedly traveled to Pakistan since the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the provinces were already behind schedule with the IMF.
Before attempting to close the doors to the media, the finance minister informed the committee on the status of the IMF accord, saying, “There will be hiccups, but our administration is clear that we are headed through it and also want to take along our coalition partners.”
The committee was briefed by Finance Secretary Imdadullah Bosal on the status of the criteria agreed upon under the IMF program.
According to him, the Extended Fund Facility is an extension of the previous IMF program.
The standing committee was briefed by the secretary, who said that even the finance ministry did not satisfy the requirement.
The suggested aim of raising the typical time-to-maturity condition of the national currency’s domestic debt to two years and eight months by the end of September was “missed” by the finance ministry, according to Bosal.
