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Pakistan’s deputy finance minister said Pakistan was not at risk of default, which former Prime Minister Imran Khan claimed was staring at the cash-strapped country and that formal talks with the International Monetary Fund on a $7 billion ninth review were blocked. Defer loan programs.
Minister of State for Finance Aisha Ghaus Pasha assured the nation in the National Assembly on Friday when Mussarat Rafiq Mahesar of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) posed a direct question to her, “What if Pakistan is going to default?” Dawn newspaper reported on Saturday.
There were also reports of delays in formal talks with the International Monetary Fund on the ninth review of a $7 billion lending program.
“… there is no such possibility. Yes, we were worried when we took over the government [in April] Because the IMF program was suspended at that time, our access to external funding was closed,” the minister said.
She claimed, however, that things had improved considerably after the government made some “very difficult decisions” and restarted the IMF programme.
Pasha said it was true that the country was unable to borrow money from other multilateral and bilateral institutions or even the commercial market to meet its external needs in the past due to the suspension of the IMF program.
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She noted, however, that there was no immediate threat of default in Pakistan following the successful completion of the seventh and eighth reviews of IMF programs. Instead, she claims, the country’s exports have improved, foreign remittances are pouring in and foreign direct investment is getting better.
The minister said Pakistan is now on the track of the IMF and committed to its programme.
In response to another question, Pasha told the House that 50 percent of Pakistan’s economic estimates are currently undocumented. However, citing different research reports, she said that the size of Pakistan’s informal economy is estimated at 35.6%.
According to the World Bank, the informal sector accounts for a third of the country’s GDP (gross domestic product), she said.
Efforts are underway to increase the size of the formal economy, she said, adding that a well-structured tax policy and its effective enforcement can play an important role in achieving this. The government is going all out to reform the tax system to maximize revenue and create convenience for taxpayers.
The minister stressed the need to develop a sense of citizenship in every Pakistani so that they pay their due taxes honestly.
She laments that Pakistan’s tax revenue accounts for only 9% of GDP, which is a low level in the world.
Dawn also reported that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar informed the House of Representatives in a written reply to a question from another PPP lawmaker, Shamim Ara Panhwar, that the country’s foreign exchange reserves totaled $13,721.9 million on November 4. He said the foreign exchange reserves held by Bank Negara amounted to US$7,957.9 million and those held by commercial banks amounted to US$5,764 million.
Responding to a question on the country’s external debt, Economic Affairs Minister Sardar Ayaz Sadiq told the House of Representatives that the previous Pakistani Justice Insaf government received $47,105.85 million between August 2018 and April 2022. loan.
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