ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s economic activities have been restored following the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the successful implementation of reforms, Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Dr Shamshad Akhtar said on Thursday.
In a media interaction, she said the reforms also led to the improvement of the business environment besides boosting the investors’ confidence.
She said The government would continue its efforts to achieve the stability of the overall economy and balanced growth, by reducing debts and carrying out development priorities as well as governance reforms in government enterprises.
She told the media that a staff-level agreement was reached with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday that would later be approved by the IMF Executive Board in the coming days.
After the staff-level agreement, Pakistan will receive about 70 million US dollars, after which the amount of assistance to Pakistan under the IMF programme will reach about 1.9 billion dollars.
The Finance Minister said that Pakistan had entered into a standby agreement with the IMF to receive $3 billion in July 2023.
Under this agreement, “we have made several successful reforms in the last few months that have revived economic activities, through our initiatives. The business-friendly environment improved investor confidence and Pakistan also received support from international partners after these reforms.
The finance minister said that “we have steadfastly implemented the budget for the fiscal year 2024 as adjustments were made in energy prices. Similarly, due to better management of foreign exchange, we have helped to reduce financial and external pressures and inflation in the last few months”.
She said that IMF also expected that the inflation rate would decline further in the coming months.
However, Dr Shamshad said that along with these positive changes, “we also realize that Pakistan faces significant external risks, including geopolitical tensions and commodity prices.”
With increasing commodity prices and tough global conditions, Pakistan will continue its efforts to achieve overall economic stability and balanced growth, she added.
She said that reducing debts through financial stability and carrying out development priorities is our priority. For this purpose, it is necessary to control the federal and provincial expenses and improve the increase in revenues.
She said that it is necessary to strengthen the social safety net for the better protection of the economically weaker segments of society. In the financial year, under the Kafalat Cash Transfer Programme, stipends will be provided to 9.3 lakh families.
The Finance Minister said that under the stand-by agreement, it has been agreed to reduce costs in the energy sector and restore efficiency in the sector.
The circular debt of the power and gas sectors has crossed 4 per cent of our Gross National Product (GNP). Urgent action is needed to bring it down. We have started work in this regard and electricity and gas rates have been adjusted.
she said that continuing the exchange rate policy based on market dynamics and increasing foreign exchange reserves are among our priorities.
She said the government’s priorities included a dynamic and accommodating monetary policy to bring inflation back to its target.
She said that the process of governance reforms in government enterprises would continue would further improve the business environment, promote investment and create job opportunities.
