An IMF team is expected to visit Pakistan in the next few days, including the Fund’s director for the region, Mr. Jihad Azur. This was announced by Mr. Jerry Rice of the Communication Department at IMF during a press briefing session on Thursday.
In response to a question on subsidy cuts and development spending in Pakistan, he stated that one of the key elements of the program is the need to mobilize domestic tax revenue to fund much needed social and development spending while placing debt on a firm downward trend.
He reminded that this was actually highlighted by their acting Managing Director, David Lipton in his recent meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Furthermore, he announced that the Annual Meetings will be held between October 14 to 20th in Washington. The press briefing on the World Economic Outlook (WEO) will take place on Tuesday, October 15 followed by their flagship publications, the Global Financial Stability Report, the Fiscal Monitor and so on.
The Ministry of Finance clarified last week that the upcoming IMF Mission will be a staff-level visit that had been planned much earlier. The ministry will meet with Mr. Jihad Azour, Director of the IMF Middle East and Central Asia Department and will apprise him on the results achieved so far.
