ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) team arrived in Islamabad and formal talks on the 9th review of the Extended Fund Facility will begin today (Tuesday).
This was confirmed by a senior official of the Finance Ministry. When asked, he said that “they are already here and technical-level meetings are starting today (Tuesday)” and would continue till Friday, which would be followed by policy-level talks.
IMF says Fund mission scheduled to visit Islamabad at end of January
An official on condition of anonymity said that there is no other option but to implement the agreed conditions and implement structural reforms in the power sector. He further stated that the government has to increase electricity and gas prices and would have to impose taxes as the gap between revenue and expenditure has been increasing.
The official said that the austerity committee has also proposed to the government to reduce the size of the cabinet. About the power sector, he said that the IMF wanted to recover the full cost of electricity and if the government wanted to give subsidy to anyone it should provide from the budgeted subsidy. The government would have to impose additional taxes as the gap between revenue and expenditure was widening day by day.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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