ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Ishaq Dar has again sought the United States’ help to unlock the stalled $1.1 billion International Monetary Fund loan as he met the US ambassador Donald Blome, it emerged on Wednesday.
The Finance Division said Dar also informed the US diplomat about the latest government’s budgetary measures for fiscal year 2023-24 are aimed at reducing the fiscal gap in order to meet national as well as international financial obligations.
The development came during Dar’s meeting with US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome.
H.E. Mr. Donald Blome, Ambassador of the United States of America to Pakistan called on Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, today and discussed matters of mutual interest between the two countries.
???????????????? pic.twitter.com/gkpY9Myk5R— Ministry of Finance (@FinMinistryPak) June 21, 2023
“[Both sides] discussed matters of mutual interest between the two countries,” a statement from the Ministry of Finance read.
The Pakistani side has made multiple attempts, but there are fewer and fewer reasons to believe that the IMF programme, which expires on June 30, will be extended.
From January 31 to February 9, 2023, the IMF deployed a review team; however, the Staff Level Agreement (SLA) could not be reached. The lender set tight requirements before signing the SLA, which Pakistan said had already been met.
Earlier, Islamabad was severely criticised by the IMF with Esther Perez Ruiz, the lender’s Resident Representative for Pakistan, expressing dissatisfaction with the budget proposals announced by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for fiscal year 2023-24, calling them a missed opportunity to broaden the tax base while criticising the new amnesty scheme that “creates a damaging precedent”.
Following the remarks, the Ministry of Finance, in a tit-for-tat response the very next day, said the budget was “never a part of the ninth review”, a complete deviation from earlier reports that Pakistan was required to take the Washington-based lender onboard for the new taxation measures.
