Pakistan has had difficulty meeting a crucial requirement imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is for its four province governments to produce a cash surplus of Rs342 billion. Significant difficulties in meeting the $7 billion IMF agreement were highlighted by the shortfall, which reached Rs182 billion, or 53%, and was mostly caused by Punjab’s lower-than-expected surplus in the first quarter of the fiscal year.
Based on early statistics from federal government sources, the provinces jointly recorded a cash surplus of just Rs160 billion, falling short of the aim, according to a story in the Express Tribune.
Positively, the province governments were able to meet another IMF criterion by collecting Rs213 billion in taxes from July to September, which was Rs29 billion more than the target of Rs184 billion.
