IMF Delegation to Visit Pakistan For Budget Talks Next Week

A delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is scheduled to visit Pakistan from May 14 to 22 to discuss the upcoming federal budget, sources in the Ministry of Finance told ProPakistani. For the next fiscal year, the government has set an ambitious GDP target of Rs. 130 trillion. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has proposed a revenue collection target of Rs. 14.2 trillion, which would represent 11 percent of the projected GDP. This target and related data have already been shared with the IMF ahead of the delegation’s arrival. The current fiscal year’s tax-to-GDP ratio is estimated at 10.6 percent, with plans to raise it to 11 percent in the next fiscal year. For May alone, the FBR has set a collection target exceeding Rs. 950 billion. By the end of the current fiscal year, the FBR is expected to collect up to Rs. 11.8 trillion in taxes. Officials estimate that an additional Rs. 500 billion could be recovered from tax cases pending in courts. However, if these recoveries do not materialize, the revised revenue target of Rs. 12.334 trillion will not be met, resulting in a shortfall of Rs. 500 billion. Prior to the revision, the FBR’s target stood at Rs. 12.97 trillion. Based on the original target, the government could face a revenue shortfall of Rs. 1.17 trillion for the current fiscal year.