IMF pressure influenced government’s decisions: Shaukat

Islamabad -The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) pressure influenced many of the government’s decisions, says Federal Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin.
The comment came while the finance minister spoke about a number of issues, including Supplementary Finance Bill 2021, State Bank Amendment Bill, inflation, prior actions demanded by IMF and other core issues related to finance.
The minister, terming the geo-political situation of the region as a reason for the Fund being assertive, said that the talks with the lender aiming to restore the US $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) were not a piece of cake after the US pullout of Afghanistan.
He said that another reason was the withdrawal of the former finance team’s from the government’s commitments made in March 2021 with the lender while borrowing a few million dollars as a loan.
The minister said that the Finance Supplementary Bill and State Bank of Pakistan Amendment Bill 2021 have been presented in the National Assembly (NA) after Cabinet’s approval and now the government will try to get both the bills approved as soon as possible.
He further stated that a detailed briefing has been given to the “allies” to take them into confidence over the bills presented in the NA and their apprehensions have been addressed.
“Our allies were told that complete bill volume is not more than 343 billion and they understood it,” Tarin said.
About the possibility and deadline of the finance bill’s passage, Tarin expressed hope that it will sail through easily and would be enacted by Parliament within the given time frame as committed to the IMF.
He went on to say that the IMF can be informed that the process has been started once the NA approves both the bills.
“We have asked IMF to schedule a meeting on January 12, and they have agreed to convene a meeting,” he added.
“It may take 3 to 4 days more beyond the important date of January 12, when IMF board is going to approve the 1 billion US dollar tranche.”