ISLAMABAD The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a tax gap analysis as negotiations to secure a new $6–8 billion bailout package for Pakistan’s faltering economy got underway. The IMF estimated that the policy and compliance gap was 6.9% of GDP, or Rs7,000 billion annually.
Discussions between Pakistan and the IMF’s visiting mission began here on Monday, with a meeting between the group led by Mission Chief Nathan Porter and Minister of Finance Mohammad Aurangzeb. In order to achieve growth on a sustained and lasting basis under the anticipated $6–8 billion bailout package from the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), the IMF mission chief emphasized the significance of political stability.
To increase the package’s overall size to about $8 billion, Pakistan also raised the topic of increasing the EFF through climate funding. According to a news release released here on Monday, the IMF team, headed by Nathan Porter, visited the Finance Ministry of Pakistan on Monday to begin talks about future cooperation with the Fund. Senior officials from the finance ministry, as well as the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan and the chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue, attended the meeting.
