IMF deal will require doing away with some corporate relaxations: PBIF

KARACHI: Chairman of National Business Group and President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), Mian Zahid Hussain has emphasised that the agreement with the IMF will require doing away with some corporate relaxations and a hike in power tariff.

It will also need steps to control circular debt but negotiations with the IPPs are in a deadlock mode while the government cannot do much due to agreements signed with them. The pace of circular debt should be slowed down otherwise it will continue to hit the economy and may become a matter of concern in negotiations with the lender, he warned.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that an agreement with the IMF, issuing Euro and Sukuk bonds and improved exports are central to continue strengthening forex reserves. He said that the current situation is satisfactory as the textile sector is working at full capacity but the second wave of coronavirus can jeopardise everything.

The State Bank needs to bring the foreign exchange held by masses into the banking system through incentives so that the foreign exchange reserves could be pushed up to $20 billion by June 2021. He noted that the current account is in surplus while a 300 million dollar loan from the ADB has also strengthened reserves but the IMF deal which was supposed to be signed in February should not be delayed.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020