ISLAMABAD: Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has completed dialogues with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the Eighth Review for $502 million tranche under its three-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme.
The minister, while addressing a press conference in Dubai, said that completion of the eight review is indicative of the government’s commitment to implementing structural reforms in areas of taxation, energy, monetary and financial sectors and public sector enterprises.
According to a press release issued by the Finance Ministry, the minister gave an overview of national economy and noted that due to declining oil prices in international markets and decrease of commodities’ prices in market, the current-account position has improved and reduced burden of $2.6 billion that also put a positive impact in overall economy.
The minister said that the country’s forex reserves were also recorded at highest level in its economic history and have crossed $18 billion mark. The increasing reserves had enabled the country to re-qualify for the concessionary fund facility of $2 billion from International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), he remarked while adding that revenue collection recorded a 15 percent growth during fiscal year 2014-15 as compared to same period of last year, whereas real GDP growth rate was recorded at 4.24 percent in FY 2014-15, which was the highest in last seven years.
Dar said IMF had projected a growth rate of 4.5 percent in FY 2015-16. However, the government retains its goal of achieving growth of 5.5 percent growth this fiscal year. The macroeconomic situation continues to improve and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project (CPEC) would further play a significant role in economic activity, he remarked. Dar said inflation is still on a downward trajectory, as the headline inflation (CPI) fell from 8.6 percent in FY 2013-14 to 4.5 percent in FY 2014-15. In July 2015 CPI fell to a 12-year low of 1.8 percent as compared to 7.9 percent of the corresponding month of last year.
