IMF expects Rs20tr revenue, stricter spending

As virtual technical-level discussions on the upcoming federal budget begin, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Pakistan’s total revenue to grow to nearly Rs20 trillion in the next fiscal year, up from the current estimate of less than Rs17.8tr, with an emphasis on tight expenditure controls to ensure sustainable debt servicing. After three days of technical discussions through video link, formal policy-level negotiations on budget finalisation are set to begin on Monday (May 19) and continue until Friday (May 23). The agreement between the IMF staff mission and the authorities on next year’s budgetary measures and macroeconomic framework would lead to the announcement of the federal budget on June 2. The IMF has already put on the table its projections for major economic indicators, including fiscal and monetary policies, envisaging an economic growth rate of 3.6 per cent and average inflation of 7.7pc.