IMF still has concerns over Pakistan budget

Pakistan’s finance minister said on Saturday that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed concern about the country’s recently unveiled budget, but the government is confident it can make changes to satisfy the lender.

Pakistan is looking to getting a staff level agreement with the IMF this month, Miftah Ismail said.

It unveiled a 9.5 trillion Pakistani rupee ($47.12 billion) budget for 2022-23 on Friday aimed at tight fiscal consolidation in a bid to convince the IMF to restart much-needed bailout payments.

“There are still some concerns the IMF has about our budget and numbers and stuff like that,” Ismail said in an interview at his office in Islamabad.

He said the IMF was concerned about fuel subsidies, a widening current account deficit, and the need to raise more direct taxes.

Fuel subsides have been cut in the last two weeks, and the remaining support is expected to be removed in coming days.

Proposed budget estimates also seek to rein in the current account deficit, but direct tax revenues remain a concern and Ismail said “slight differences” remain there.