ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are set to negotiate key economic targets after the visiting IMF mission shared its first draft of the Memorandum of Financial and Economic Policies (MEFP), The News reported on Saturday.
The IMF review mission is expected to remain in Islamabad for the next few days, probably until the middle of next week. If both sides reach consensus on the MEFP, a staff-level agreement will follow; otherwise, talks will continue virtually.
According to the report, the IMF raised concerns over the breach of the power sector’s Circular Debt target for end-June 2026 — the circular debt stood at Rs 1,675 billion against the agreed target. The Fund has asked the government to eliminate the cross-subsidy on electricity usage of up to 200 units and introduce a targeted subsidy through BISP from January 2027.
The IMF also insisted on projecting the current account deficit on the higher side, at up to $4 billion for the current fiscal year, against the finance ministry’s projection of about $2.7 billion. The Federal Board of Revenue’s annual tax collection target of Rs 15,264 billion will remain intact, as the FBR exceeded its first-quarter target by Rs 27 billion.