IMF and Pakistan agree to continue current program, petrol prices to climb

IMF andPakistan agree to continue current program, petrol prices to climb

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The  Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government has successfully negotiated with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Sunday and both came to the conclusion that the current program should continue. The current government and IMF also agreed that the subsidy given by the previous government on electricity and petrol would be abolished in phases. This means petrol and electricity prices will increase further. According to sources, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, Governor State Bank of Pakistan Raza Baqir and Minister of State for Finance Dr Ayesha Ghous Pasha met the IMF delegation in Washington. In this regard, the sources said that in the talks, Pakistan has agreed on reforms to increase revenue while the IMF has agreed to continue subsidies for the poor in Pakistan. The IMF has no objection to the income support program and  also agreed on continuation of the health card facility, sources claimed.

Sources also said Pakistan has assured that efforts will be made for the independence of the SBP and this month Pakistan and the IMF technical team will work on the expansion of the program. The technical team will review the bilateral data.