Pakistan and the IMF narrowed down their differences after Islamabad offered to make adjustments in the budget and also immediately withdrew restrictions on imports….reports Asian Lite News
There has been a likely breakthrough in Pakistan’s long-drawn-out parleys with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the tightly-negotiated ninth review and an official announcement regarding the signing of the deal is expected soon, the media reported.
The development comes after a flurry of meetings between the two sides following Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s huddle with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, in Paris earlier this week, Geo News reported.
Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday narrowed down their differences after Islamabad offered to make adjustments in the budget and also immediately withdrew restrictions on imports.
Sources told The Express Tribune that the government informed the IMF that it was willing to make adjustments, both in the budget and taxation sides.
The offer was equivalent to around 0.3 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) but it was nearly half of the gap that the global lender had identified, they added.
The government offered to cut expenses by 200 billion PKR and impose new taxes of 100 billion PKR, the sources said.
The authorities were hopeful that if the ongoing round of talks remained successful and the staff-level agreement could be reached at the earliest, The Express Tribune reported.
The sources said that the things really moved at a fast pace since Thursday.
The Finance Ministry has not officially commented on the development.
The discussions continued until late Friday night after the IMF asked Pakistan to make further adjustments.
At the next fiscal year’s projected size of the economy, the offer made by Pakistan was equal to around 300 billion PKR but the exact figure could not be verified.
People flee from Pakistan
A horrific migrant shipwreck off the Greek coast which took place on July 14 is again causing debates in Pakistan over the government’s ability to take action on human smugglers, as the number of people fleeing the country is rising rapidly, Nikkei Asia reported.
Almost 750 migrants were aboard the overcrowded fishing trawler which sunk in the Mediterranean Sea last week after setting off from Libya. Out of them, only 104 have been found yet. According to the reports, a dozen of Pakistanis were rescued but possibly, there may have been 400 aboard the vessel, as well as, other Italy-bound migrants from Syria and Egypt.
Following the dreadful tragedy, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared a national day of mourning and vowed to punish human traffickers.
Crisis-hit Pakistan has a population of 240 million and an average salary of USD 1,500 a year. Moreover, its inflation has reached 33 percent, which is the highest in decades, with the rupee depreciating rapidly and a sovereign default looming, as per Nikkei Asia.
In 2022, over 800,000 Pakistanis officially left the country in search of work, which marks the biggest outflow in the past five years. Some desperate residents turn to illegal smugglers to move them to Australia, Europe and other top destinations, despite the risks, according to Nikkei Asia.
Adding to that, more than 20,000 people have died or gone missing who were trying to cross the Mediterranean since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration.
“The dearth of economic opportunities available in the country compels more and more people to take their chances on such routes without being aware of the risk,” the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said this week.
“The fact that there were possibly avoidable deaths, and [the accident] involved victims of human trafficking, should serve as a stark reminder to the state that it has failed to stem a long-standing and grievous human rights violation,” it added.
The rights watchdog warned that a “serious lack of coordination among law enforcement agencies continues to allow traffickers to operate with impunity.”
In a year, about 40000 Pakistanis leave the country through unofficial channels.
According to a Mixed Migration Centre, a Europe-based research group, about 40,000 Pakistanis a year leave the country through unofficial channels. Up to 90% of Pakistani migrants who reached Italy relied on smugglers and other illegal means, reported Nikkei Asia.
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