ISLAMABAD – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed concern over the slow pace of economic reforms, saying they were halting further investment in the country and severely impacting poor communities.
An official source said the IMF has recently suggested to the government to expedite work on the economic reforms, otherwise poor segments of the society would become poorer. The IMF stressed that the chances of investment in the country were picking up, but it was essential that the government carried out economic reforms in time.
Sources said the development partners were stressing upon the government to end all subsidies in the power sector that would help overcome the economic difficulties an attract investment in the power, refining and marketing sectors.
The sources added that a two-member team of IMF consisting of Mission Chief for Pakistan Adnan Mazarei and Masood Ahmed would visit Pakistan from January 31. IMF programme will be revived, govt assures US: The government has assured the US of taking all measures to put the economy back on track and to revive the IMF programme.
Senior Adviser to the US President David Lipton and others met Minister for Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Wednesday, during which the US delegation was given a detailed briefing on the mid-term economic review covering all aspects of the current economic situation.
The US delegation was informed that the government was having parleys with political forces to put the economy back on track and revive the IMF loan programme.
The US officials were told that foreign inflows at the moment were waiting for the passage of the IMF programme and that would ease the pressure on domestic borrowings. The US delegation was informed that due to the cut in the overall federal and provincial expenditure, the budget deficit was lowered from 3.2 to 3 percent of the GDP.
