ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission requested precise timeframes from the provinces for their contributions to spending on higher education and the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) program for cutting expenditures, in response to concerns expressed regarding the federating units’ inability to produce the intended revenue surplus, particularly Punjab.
Five governments agreed on a fiscal framework for increasing revenues, sharing expenditures, and enhancing governance, and the Center and four provinces signed the National Fiscal Pact (NFP) just before the IMF’s Executive Board approved it under the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
With the hope that both parties would wrap up parleys on Friday, the visiting IMF delegation continued its discussions with Pakistani officials here on Thursday and was now moving toward the end.
