DUBAI: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar held a meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The mission was led by Mr. Jeffrey Franks and included representatives of IMF, World and Asian Development Bank.
Dar told the Mission that despite challenging circumstances, Government of Pakistan has been able to meet all the Structural Benchmarks, Performance Criteria and Indicative Targets for the Sixth Quarterly Review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
The Finance Minister was of the view that Pakistan’s growth target for the current fiscal year is 5.1% and the improvement in the current economic indicators is quite encouraging. He mentioned that the headline inflation in January, 2015 has been recorded at 3.9%, which is the lowest in the last 12 years while the average inflation for first seven months of the year has been recorded at 5.77% as compared to 8.75% for corresponding period of the last year.
The Minister also mentioned about the efforts of the government to build foreign exchange reserves and contain borrowing from the SBP.
Jeffrey Franks appreciated the performance of the government in meeting various targets. He was of the view that the government should take full advantage of the space provided by lowering of oil prices and concentrate on building reserves.
The IMF Mission is expected to be concluded on 5 February 2015.
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