Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday assured the federal cabinet that the $6.5 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program would be revived “soon”.
Pakistan is eager to open the next tranche of a $1.1 billion loan facility with the IMF but is struggling to meet the stringent conditions set by the global financial body.
The IMF is demanding that Pakistan boost its pathetically low tax base, end exemptions for the export sector, and raise artificially low energy prices meant to help poor families. .
Pakistan is in dire need of funds as it is battling a serious economic crisis as foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) barely cover a month’s worth of imports.
“The IMF program will be revived soon, God willing, because there are one or two things that need to be implemented,” the prime minister said during his address to the federal cabinet in Islamabad.
