The Finance Minister says they could boost their exports through various means if they control their imports for just three months.
KARACHI: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-Aug 5th, 2022) Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said Friday that Pakistan was heading in the right direction, warning that obviously they might see bad days.
Addressing an event at the pakistan stock exchange (psx) in Karachi, the finance minister said: "We are on right track but of course we might see bad days,".
Miftah Ismail said they were on the right track.
The Minister said they could boost their exports through various means if they control their imports for just three month.
The present government slashed a raft of subsidies to meet the demands of IMF but risks the wrath of an electorate already struggling under the weight of double-digit inflation.
Following the staff-level agreement and the tough decisions, IMF's Resident Representative for Pakistan Esther Perez Ruiz said earlier this week that the country completed the last precondition — increasing the PDL (petroleum development levy) — for the combined seventh and eighth reviews.
An original $6 billion bailout package was signed by former prime minister Imran Khan in 2019, but repeatedly stalled when his government reneged on subsidy agreements and failed to significantly improve tax collection.
The coalition government faced difficulty by task of ending oil and power subsidies when it came to power — and after much deliberation, it did put an end to them as the country needed the support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Both Pakistan and IMF reached the agreement and now the next tranche would be released soon.
