‘Mini-budget’ planned as IMF, govt still differ

ISLAMABAD: Preparations are on for introducing the third money bill of this fiscal year, while discussions between the government and the International Monetary Fund have been ramped up. Reports following a late evening hourlong video conference between the government and the IMF suggest that differences persist between both sides over a broad spectrum of issues. Finance Minister Asad Umar announced his intention to bring a new money bill when he appeared before a parliamentary panel on Wednesday morning along with State Bank Governor Tariq Bajwa. Informed sources said that during the video conference, the government and the Fund could not agree on the timing and pace of the fiscal adjustment and structural reforms. They said the IMF mission raised questions over Pakistan’s memorandum of economic and financial policies (MEFP) submitted last week and the finance minister responded. The questions related to the proposed fiscal adjustment, energy pricing, monetary and exchange rate policy and structural reforms contained in the government’s MEFP, an informed source told Dawn, adding that the IMF team had reservations over viability of the government’s proposals in all areas, although the degree of disagreement varied. The mission also raised questions over the way forward on the state-owned entities. Separately, the IMF’s resident representative to Pakistan confirmed in a short message to Dawn that the plan referred to by the finance minister had been received by them. “The Pakistani authorities have shared with us a document called ‘Pakistan: Stabilisation and Medium-Term Sustainable Growth Framework’,” she said via text message from Washington DC where she is these days.“We are in the process of reviewing this particular document and the objective continues to be to achieve understanding on policies and reforms that could be the base of a staff-level agreement.”