Govt to stay firm on IMF commitments: Aurangzeb

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance Mohammad Aurangzeb made it clear on Tuesday that the government would stick to the commitments made with the IMF under the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF). He also hinted that the tax burden on salaried class might be rationalised in the coming budget.

The minister talked about different issues on the occasion of an event titled “Dialogue on the Economy”, organised by the Pakistan Business Council in the federal capital.

He said the government was committed to staying firm with promises made in the IMF programme and a few things might have to be phased in or phased out in the next budget 2025-26. The finance minister said the government intends to simplify the tax filing process for the salaried class.

Talking about the IMF programme, he said: “We are in a three-year Fund programme and know where we are, what we have committed and we are going to stay firm on those commitments”.

He said the country achieved stabilisation but there was no automatic switch from stabilisation to growth. “And we need to be very clear that we fundamentally changed the DNA of the economy, (so) that we do not get into trouble,” he added.

About the State Bank of Pakistan’s projection of reaching a $13 billion foreign exchange reserves by the end of the current fiscal, the finance minister termed it “a very important milestone”.

Talking about the rightsizing of the federal government, Aurangzeb said a number of ministries had been merged or abolished, and they were monitoring that. “We have announced that about 150,000 posts are going to be abolished, which are vacant. Roughly 30,000-plus has already been done,” he said.