KARACHI, 29 October 2003 — The International Monetary Fund has commended the sound and positive economic policies of Pakistan and “continued strengthening” of its macroeconomic performance.
The fund’s assessment was made in a statement on Monday by Augustin Carstens, deputy managing director and acting chairman of the IMF Executive Board, which discussed Pakistan’s current economic program.
The continued strengthening of Pakistan’s macroeconomic performance is commendable. GDP growth picked up in 2002/03, inflation remained subdued and large external current account and overall balance of payments surpluses were recorded, Carstens’ statement said.
The fiscal deficit was lower than expected, tax collection exceeded its target by a small margin, and social- and poverty-related expenditure grew only slightly less than targeted.
The board completed sixth and seventh reviews of Pakistan’s poverty reduction and growth facility-supported program and granted waivers and approved disbursements amounting to $247.54 million.
Pakistan’s request for waivers for the non-observance of three structural performance criteria was approved by the board, an official IMF statement said.
The waivers related to a short delay in the submission of the fiscal responsibility law to Parliament, the approval of some minor new tax exemptions, and the non-removal of the exemption from withholding tax for National Savings Scheme (NSS) instruments of less than 150,000 rupees.
