ISLAMABAD: Mini budget on cards over harsh conditions by the InternationalMonetary Fund.
After revising downward the FBR’s target from Rs5.5 trillion to Rs5.238trillion, Pakistan has agreed under the new structural benchmark conditionwith the IMF to take ‘additional measures’ on the eve of presenting thebudget review before parliament by end of February 2020.
This indicates that a mini-budget is on the cards if the need arises toachieve the envisaged annual targets for the current fiscal year under theIMF program.
On the other side, the non-tax revenue target has also been jacked up by0.8 percent of GDP to compensate the shortfall on front of FBR taxcollection and keeping the budget deficit, especially the primary deficit,within the desired limits.
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“On the basis of the review’s findings, we will implement ‘additionalmeasures’ as needed to ensure that FY 2020 annual targets are observed,”the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) dully signed byAdviser to the PM on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Governor SBP DrReza Baqir stated under the IMF’s $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
According to MEFP document, in line with the recently enacted PublicFinancial Management (PFM) Act, “we initiated the required analytical workand data gathering for the timely preparation of (i) a mid-year budgetreview and (ii) a strategy paper by March 15, 2020.
