Pakistan in talks with IMF for easing tough conditions

Pakistan has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a cut in the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) collection target from Rs 5.9 trillion to Rs 5.5 trillion for the upcoming budget.

According to the reports, the Pakistani authorities have cited the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic as a reason.

The IMF had given the FBR the tax collection target of Rs 5,963 billion for the upcoming budget 2021-22 against a downward revised target of Rs 4,691 billion for the outgoing fiscal year.

It is worth mentioning here that Pakistan is seeing record numbers of COVID-19 deaths and infections, and so the country is to shut non-essential business and transport for almost two weeks.

Moreover, the budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year is just weeks away, and the IMF approved a $500m disbursement in March for budget support after completing a review of the loan program that had been delayed by more than one year.