Talks with IMF inconclusive: Tarin

June 17, 2021

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Talks between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund on a sixth review of the $ 6 billion loan program remained inconclusive.
Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin confirmed that negotiations with the IMF on the Sixth Economic Review are still inconclusive. According to him, the government cannot burden the poor by imposing additional taxes, adding that negotiations with the International Monetary Fund will continue. Tarin said the fund will review Pakistan’s economic performance in the next two to three months by September.

Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund are trying to resolve differences over new tax measures amid the government’s willingness to raise the fertilizer tax rate to 10% and impose a 17% tax on imported oil to get Rs.115bn.

Sources said that if problems cannot be resolved at the level of Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin and IMF Mission Chief Ernest Rigi, Prime Minister Imran Khan may speak with IMF Executive Director Kristalina Georgieva this week.

The main difference between the two sides is the tax measures that Pakistan must take to meet its tax target of Rs 5,829 trillion for the next fiscal year. Pakistan is set to reach Rs 5.3 trillion without additional tax measures, and the IMF wants to fill the remainder of the deficit with additional revenue measures.