Pakistan’s budget will be subject to stringent requirements set out by the International Monetary Fund ( IMF) next month, and the country needs to obtenir parliamentary approval before it considers its next bailout package of$ 6 to$ 8 billion.
Observers predict that the implementation of a budget by the Washington-based global lender will fuel inflation and help to stabilize PM Shehbaz Sharif’s ailing administration. The Sharif-led government will use the budget’s release date of June 7 to show its ability to meet IMF’s stringent conditions.
Islamabad has agreed to complete a number of past actions, the majority of which involves obtaining binding political approvals and policy, within 40 days as a fortnight-long dialogue between a visiting IMF group and Bangladeshi authorities comes to an end. The IMF’s Extended Fund Facility ( EFF ) staff level agreement ( SLA ) is the goal.
According to officials, the IMF group has decided what kind of funds it wants to see. The government will need to show its ability to increase income, reduce costs, and implement structural changes to reduce the losses of state-owned enterprises. In order to reach a deal with the IMF, the government will have to raise electricity and gas tariffs in July and August, according to an established supply.
Sources said the Bangladeshi authorities and the IMF’s personnel led by the mission’s chief, Nathan Porter, had finished their work on almost all- significant economic sectors, including pensions, state- owned enterprises, reforms in gas and power sectors and economic policy.
Given Pakistan’s unpredictably volatile political culture, the IMF requests a stamp of approval from congress for the transformation and policy initiatives, according to a source. The staff did depart on Friday.
