A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Nathan Porter, will travel to Pakistan from November 11-15 for a staff visit to discuss recent developments and the performance of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program to date.
Officials have revealed that this mission is not part of the first review under the $7 billion EFF, which will occur no earlier than the first quarter of 2025. Sources added that during the visit, IMF staff will hold meetings with the Finance Minister, the Federal Board of Revenue Chairman, the State Bank of Pakistan, and other relevant ministries, including Energy.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collected Rs 877 billion in October 2024 against an assigned target of Rs 980 billion, reflecting a shortfall of Rs 103 billion. The FBR collected Rs 3,440 billion during the first four months of 2024-25 against the assigned target of Rs 3,636 billion set for July-October of the current fiscal year, reflecting a shortfall of Rs 196 billion.
The IMF staff is expected to discuss the revenue shortfall and may ask the government to implement additional measures to bridge the revenue gap.
The government closed the first quarter of the current fiscal year 2024-25 with an overall budget balance of Rs 1.696 trillion, equivalent to 1.4 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Furthermore, the government achieved a primary balance of Rs 3.002 trillion, equivalent to 2.4 percent of GDP.
