PM Shehbaz Calls for An End to Depending on IMF Loans for Survival

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stressed the need for Pakistan to break free from relying on the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He said at the launch of the Prime Minister’s Digital Youth Hub in Islamabad on Thursday that economic prosperity cannot be achieved under IMF programs. He noted that Pakistan’s debt has accumulated over the past 77 years. “I pray this is Pakistan’s last IMF program. Countries do not prosper under IMF support,” he said. His remarks come a day after Pakistan and the IMF reached a staff-level agreement (SLA) on the first review of the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and an additional $1.3 billion under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). The agreement, subject to IMF Executive Board approval, will allow Pakistan access to about $1 billion, bringing total disbursements under the EFF to $2 billion. Referring to the Rs. 34 billion recovered from the banking sector by tax authorities, the prime minister credited the government’s crackdown on collusion between the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and taxpayers. The recent Lahore High Court decision vacating a stay order on the windfall income tax on banks contributed Rs. 11.5 billion to the national exchequer, bringing the total financial benefit to Rs. 34.5 billion in a month.