SBP Governor unveils good news for the Pakistani economy
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ISLAMABAD: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Reza Baqir has said that Pakistan is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to put the fiscal support programme back on track, adding that he was optimistic about the economic outlook despite the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
“We hope to have good news for the market and the world that we are putting the program back on track,” the country’s central bank governor said in an interview at the Reuters Next conference on Monday.
With dwindling foreign exchange reserves and a struggling economy, Pakistan entered a three-year $6 billion IMF bailout programme in 2019 but is yet to have its second review approved, which has been pending since early last year.
Last year, staff from the IMF and Pakistani authorities reached an agreement to pave the way for a disbursement of $450 million in IMF funds pending approval from the global lender’s executive board, which is yet to take place.
Baqir said there was no disagreement on the end goal between the two sides, and that Pakistan needs to increase its low tax to GDP ratio.
Pakistan and the IMF have been working to implement IMF-supported economic reforms, in particular tax collection, aimed at stabilizing the economy and shoring up a yawning fiscal deficit.
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